Renewal
by DiamondAndPearlStories
Summary: Book One of the 'Alternate Universe Series'. A single thing done differently can be compared to a ripple in a pond. It will grow larger and larger, as changes will grow throughout the entire Universe. Are these changes for the better or for the worst?
1. Observation

Loki walked onto the balcony of Stark tower, watching as the Chitauri army terrorized his soon to be new kingdom, yet he felt something off about... well everything. He had no idea what it was, as he gazed in his reflection in his weapon, his blue eyes suddenly cast upon a flash of Thor's cape as he landed a few feet away. He turned, prepared for a fight he knew was coming. His ultimate test to earn his kingdom, someone said- who had said that?

"Loki, turn off the tesseract or I'll destroy it." Thor threatened.

"You can't. There is no stopping it. There is only the war!" Loki said, pointing his weapon at Thor.

Thor readied his hammer. "So be it."

And they engaged in a fight, overshadowing the vast city below fleeing in fear-stricken panic.

Loki didn't care though. In that moment all he seemed to care about was unleashing all his rage and jealous emotion, leaving Thor only the option of defending himself, not wanting to fight his little brother, however many wrongs he had done.

Loki noticed the Quinjet out the corner of his eye, sending a blast to knock Thor to his feet before shooting down the aircraft. Thor soon jumped back up, taking Loki momentarily by surprise and forcing him to look at the damage.

"Look at this! Look around you! Do you think this madness will stop with your rule?!" Thor asked.

"It's too late. It's too late to stop it." Loki said, for the first time looking terrified of himself and the fighting around him.

"No. We can. Together." Thor said.

Loki looked at him longingly, before feeling a wash of anger take over, and before they knew it, Loki stabbed Thor in the abdomen. Thor winced, but instead of discarding Loki like he might have done when they were younger, he tried to reach out further.

"You said, on the cliff, that I threw you into an abyss. Loki, I did not! You let go. Why? Why did you let go?" Thor asked.

Loki refused to answer, straining to get away from Thor's grip which was currently subduing any movements he could make to stab Thor again with another dagger he conjured up.

Thor looked to the weapon Loki was holding, and the gleam of the blue near the tip. It looked like the tesseract, and Loki's eyes.

His own blue eyes snapped up to look into Loki's green- no, bright blue eyes.

"Why are your eyes blue?" Thor asked, grabbing Loki's neck to keep him steady. Instead, Loki took that opportunity to stab Thor with the bigger dagger, pushing him off the ledge and onto the streets far below.

"Sentiment." He whispered, breathing heavily.

Suddenly a green blob slammed into him, sending him through the glass windows of Stark Tower. He quickly got to his feet as the Hulk approached, filled with anger.

"ENOUGH! You are all of you beneath me! I am a God you dull creature, and I will not be bullied by-"

Hulk interrupted his rant by picking him up by the feet and slamming him multiple times into the floor. One more for good measure, and the Hulk walked away, making a snarky comment about "Puny God".

As for Loki, he felt not only his air get knocked out of his lungs, but also any negative emotion that had been built up over a year of absence from Asgard. Why he had suddenly lost all intent of war and chaos, he couldn't figure out. All he wanted to do now was just to sleep for another year, exhaustion seeping in from all the betrayal he cast upon his own family, who were kind enough to take him in. Not Odin though, Loki's anger towards him was still heartfelt and strong.

He let out a high pitched whine that he would later deny doing, and fell unconscious.

OoOoOoOoOo

When Tony Stark took control of the missile and flew through the portal, he should have expected something on the other side, but he was still horrified to find a huge ship, the source of the army. He let go off the missile, letting it continue on to destroy the ship while he fell back through the portal, slipping out of consciousness.

The next thing he knew, he was lying on his back, and never had he felt so happy to see Steve and Thor over him, smiling with relief.

"What the hell? What just happened?" He asked. A beat skipped. "Please tell me nobody kissed me."

"We won." Steve said, breathing heavily from the adrenalin.

"Alright, hey. Alright. Good job guys, let's just not go in tomorrow, let's just take a day. Have you ever tried shawarma? There's a Shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is but I wanna try it." He rambled.

"We're not finished yet." Thor said, sadly.

"Then Shawarma afterwards?" Tony asked.

"It might take a while. Loki is not all he seemed to be." Thor said.

"What does that mean?" Clint asked, coming up to them with Natasha and Selvig.

"Tell me, Lady Natasha, what colour were Barton's eyes under the influence of the tesseract?" Thor asked.

"Bright blue, same shade as the cube." Natasha said.

"So were Loki's." Thor said.

A beat.

"Wait, the controller was being controlled?" Tony said. "All that for nothing."

"Controlled by who?" Natasha asked.

"Guess we should go find out." Clint said.

"I think I'll go back to the lab." Selvig said rather quickly, not keen to face Loki again, despite what he just learned.

"I think I should go to Loki first. A crowd might be too much." Thor said, spinning his hammer and flying to the top floor.

"How did we get into this family quarrel?" Tony asked sarcastically.

OoOoOoOoOo

Blinking, Loki regained consciousness, acknowledges both desolation and silence- no. People were... cheering? Did the Avengers win? Loki breathed a sigh of relief, and dragged himself out of the dent in the ground made by him being slammed by the Hulk. He mustered as much strength as he could, but to no avail, couldn't push himself up into a sitting position.

He saw a hand reach out to him out the corner of his eyes, recognising the sleeves as Thor's attire.

Ignoring him, he looked past at Stark who was standing by the lift with the other Avengers, Hulk still in Banners place.

"If it's all the same to you, I'll have that drink now." He said, looking down and grinning awkwardly.

Tony snorted a laugh, while Thor kicked Loki's foot gently as persuasion to take his hand, which he did, letting his bro- adoptive brother pull him to his feet. Thor brushed some debris off Loki's jacket, staring intently into Loki's eyes and looking... relieved?

"What?" Loki asked, meaning to snap but had no heat to his word.

"Your eyes are green again." Thor smiled. "Welcome back, brother."

"What do you mean, welcome back?" He asked, this time with a sharper tone as he pushed Thor away from him.

"The tesseract was controlling you I think, it's the same shade of blue eyes Clint had that Thor noticed in yours." Natasha said.

"I did everything of my own accord. I knew exactly what I was doing." Loki said.

"Do you? I thought I did too, turns out I had emotions put into my head that made me want to work with you." Clint said, frowning as he still hated Loki more than the others.

"You had such anger in your head Loki, now it is gone, yes?" Thor asked, not waiting for an answer, he continued. "I will go to our father, OUR father, and tell him what I witnessed. I don't think you are fully to blame, but in condition of proving your innocence, both on Earth and on Asgard, we want to know how it all happened."

"Tsk, no deal. In case you haven't noticed, Odinson, these friends of yours are no closer to believing any story I tell, nor is Odin, nor are you." Loki snapped.

"We'll be the judge of that." Steve said. "We're quite fair people."

"You couldn't work together well enough to stop me sooner, you fight and you argue all the time, you couldn't be more different or too similar if you tried-"

"Loki, enough." Thor said, with a voice that left no argument to be made. "I will take Loki to SHIELD's flying machine, they will keep him in isolation until I get back from Asgard. Lady Natasha, may I ask you to accompany me to keep an eye on Loki?"

"Sure, who knows how angry SHIELD will be about Phil." She said.

Regret suddenly washed over Loki, but it passed soon enough and he hoped no one noticed the change in his expression, though looking at Natasha's face, he could tell she saw it.


	2. Justification

"You came back without him?" Asked Heimdall, the keeper of the Bifrost and arguably Thor's closest friend.

"I have much to tell father, can you keep an eye on Loki on Midgard? I want to know if he gives away any valuable information." Thor asked.

"Of course, my prince." Heimdall replied.

Thor walked the length of the Rainbow bridge to the palace, noticing a lot of confused looks from civilians. Of course, they knew what Loki had done, but they didn't know why Thor was alone when he meant to return with his brother in tow. Ignoring them, Thor entered the palace, seeking out his parents.

Having asked a few guards, he was pointed to the Throne room, of course his parents will be waiting there for the verdict. Taking a deep breath, he pushed open the large doors, and walked in.

He kept eye contact with his father all the while, hoping to convey that he didn't lose by returning without Loki. He knelt in front, placing Mjolnir on the ground.

"My son, you have returned without him." Odin said.

"Because I need you to hear the whole story before judgement is passed." Thor said.

"Very well." Odin said. "I trust you wouldn't try to protect someone guilty of a tremendous crime as had been commited, not even your brother."

"Thank you, father." Thor stood up. "When I first intercepted Earth Greatest Heroes, the Avengers, and took Loki from their custody, he claimed I threw him of the bridge. I should have said something then but I didn't, which is my mistake. But... when I fought Loki on the battlefield, I saw his eyes were a shade of blue similar to those he reigned control over, such as the Avenger, Clint Barton, known as Hawkeye."

"So he was being controlled. By what? The tesseract has no such ability." Odin said.

"Maybe it was something similar." Thor said, then he snapped his attention to Frigga, who looked semi-relieved about the turn of events. "Mother used to read stories to us, about the Infinity Stones. Wasn't one of those the Mind Stone, which does have that ability?"

"Indeed it does." She replied.

"The Sceptre. Loki's Sceptre. It glows like the tesseract." Thor said, remembering the close up look he had of it.

"Bring it to me, my son." Odin said.

"Father. Loki's sentence? Will you leave him to be free if I found out everything from him?" Thor asked.

"Only as I see fit. As long as you do not keep him from Asgardian Justice." Odin said sternly.

"I will bring him as soon as I am able." Thor said. "Thank you."

Then he turned to leave, back to Midgard.

"My son. It makes me proud to see that you have learned fairness and justice. You will make a great king." Odin said.

Thor turned and smiled, before leaving, a bitter taste in his mouth at those words for some reason.

OoOoOoOoOo

Agent Romanov, give me one reason why I should not drop that cell immediately?" Fury asked as he eyed the containment cell holding Loki, through the computer screen.

"Because Thor believes him innocent. So do the Avengers." Natasha replied.

"You better explain yourself." Fury said, angry.

"We believe Loki was under some kind of control just as he controlled Doctor Selvig and Agent Barton." Natasha said. "So as long as he is here, I am to make sure SHIELD doesn't take out their anger on him. I saw his eyes when we mentioned Phil, he regretted it."

"He probably regrets getting caught." Fury said.

"All the same, if anyone on this Helicarrier has any intention of killing Loki, I will kill them and free him myself." Natasha said.

"You better be right about him, Romanov." Fury said as a gesture of dismissal.

Natasha left the room, heading towards Loki's holding cell, where he sat and stared into space.

She sat on a chair, very much like before, where she managed to gain vital information from him, even if it was a bit late. She saw what Thor meant about his eyes- they were bright green now unlike before when she stood merely a foot away from him, his blue eyes full of hatred and venom.

"Does he not buy it? I wonder why?" Loki asked sarcastically.

"As long as you're here, I am. I won't let them get close enough to you. It's just you, me and the Avengers." She said.

"How wonderful(!)" He said.

"Thor said you'd been missing a year, presumed dead. Where were you all this time?" Natasha asked.

Loki remained silent.

"Who controlled the would be king?" Natasha asked, having been told about the encounter on the cliff from Thor. She thought it would press a few buttons that could get him to spill information.

"My actions were my own." He said.

"Are you protecting someone?" Natasha asked, standing up.

"There is no one to protect." He replied.

"No one but yourself. A lot of Earth criminals tend not to give up names of their drug suppliers, or associates of the same crime. Why would this be any different." Natasha asked.

"Because I work for no one, with no one, I. work. alone." Loki emphasized.

"Right, because that Chitauri army was yours to begin with." Natasha said, clearly showing she didn't believe him.

"What do you hope to walk away with today? Knowledge of which you fragile humans have no idea how to handle? Knowledge of the Sceptre? What?" He asked, standing up to intimidate her.

"All we wanted was the story, but I guess if you are so terrified of someone as to not give them up, then we will find out ourselves. You did, after all, give me a clue." Natasha said.

"What?"

"The Sceptre, you mentioned it, not me." Natasha said, leaving the room, but not without thanking him for trying.

He had no idea how to react, so he sat back down, to stare into space some more.

OoOoOoOoOo

"Doctor Banner, good, you're here." Natasha said as she entered his new lab on the aircraft, his old having been destroyed. Clint, Tony, Steve, and Thor were all there too.

"I just got back, the others were telling me about your interrogation of my brother." Thor said.

"You were watching?" She asked.

"Course, we wanted to know everything too." Tony said, popping blueberries into his mouth and offering them out, to which only Clint and Bruce accepted.

"That's why we all gathered here. With the Sceptre." Bruce said, looking at the weapon uneasily.

"My father wants me to bring it back to Asgard with me, along with Loki." Thor said.

"But not before we analyse it here, surely?" Steve asked.

"I doubt he would mind as long as it stays in one piece." Thor said. Immediately all eyes were cast on Tony, who smirked at the implications.

"Okay then, how do we go about this?" Clint asked.

"The Sceptre, we suspect, held some kind of influence over Loki's mind. He used it to take over Clint's mind too." Thor said. "I suspect it channels the energy of yet a similar signature to the tesseract, which is otherwise known as the Space Stone. We think the Sceptre has links to the Mind Stone."

"Mind Stone, huh? So we shouldn't touch it." Bruce said, keeping his distance.

"Quite right, Banner, no one has ever held two Infinity Stones at the same time, let alone one." Thor said.

"So this Mind Stone inside it was controlling everyone?" Steve asked.

"Yes, I suspect it is trying to control us even now." Thor said.

"Maybe it already has before." Natasha said. "Before Loki escaped the first time, we were all in the middle of a huge argument."

"Damn, you're right." Tony said. "Okay so we know that, Loki can be proven innocent on your own planet then."

"It is not quite that simple. He can be cleared of all charges of his crimes on Earth, but unless he was under the same influence on Asgard before he attempted his death, he is still held accountable for crimes committed on Asgard." Thor said.

"Then we tell Lokes what we figured out, tell him we can broadcast his innocence across the planet and maybe persuade him to tell us the rest." Tony said.

"Get on his side." Steve said, understanding the idea.

"Exactly." Tony said, clicking his fingers.

"Loki is perhaps just as stubborn as I am, if he is withholding information, it will be difficult." Thor said.

"Can you do it?" Bruce asked.

"I can try." Thor said, leaving the room.


	3. Confrontation

The silence and isolation unsettled Loki, though he didn't care to admit it, not even to the guards who seemed to be guarding him 24/7. Maybe humans were more resilient than he thought, if being defeated by five of them wasn't a big enough clue.

He took to walking back and forth, slow enough to appear calm and certainly intimidated by the buttons that could release him onto the planet below, Romanov wasn't there to save him from whoever might walk through that door next.

Fortunately it was his brother.

Unfortunately it was his brother.

"Odinson." He acknowledged coldly.

"Brother, we have examined the Sceptre, it is not of any world I know, who gave it to you?" Thor asked.

"What makes you think someone gave it to me?" Loki asked, his eyes hard.

"It is obvious. You don't have to tell me here in front of the Midgardians, but things will be different on Asgard." Thor paused. "The Man of Iron has power to persuade the people in this realm, of your innocence."

"Why would my enemy do something like that for me?" Loki asked, sighing.

"Because we are not your enemies. Believe me or not, we are on your side. I am on your side." Thor said. Loki ignored him, in favour of rolling his eyes at the last bit. "Loki, whatever I have done in the past to push you away, I am sincerely sorry. If you can't tell me then I won't push you. However, I won't stop wanting my brother back, and our bond just as it was when we were children."

"I am not your brother." Loki said.

"Family isn't always blood. It is bond." Thor said, standing now a foot away from the glass. "You said that you have always stood in the shadow of my... greatness... I didn't quite understand what that meant until I spoke to father again. I never realized how biased he seemed, how intent he was on me becoming king instead of you. You were always pushed aside and I was always, as you constantly put it, the Golden prince."

Loki was quiet, but it was clear he was listening.

"I wish I could have seen it sooner, and maybe you would not have distanced yourself from us." Thor said, smiling sadly before walking away.

"Thor." Loki called.

"Yes Loki." Thor replied.

"... it is nothing." He said.

Thor paused a second, before choosing not to press Loki and making things worse again. He left.

OOoOoOoOoOo

The Avengers were standing in central park, guards littered around making sure no one got close enough to realize Loki was there, about to go back to Asgard with Thor. Initially Thor was instructed to place chains on Loki, but flat out refused to go through with it after all that had surfaced.

So there they stood, holding the tesseract in a glass container, beaming away and leaving five Avengers behind.

They all said their goodbyes before heading off in different directions, Tony promising to call everyone once Thor came back with the verdict.

For now, he had conferences to make and announcements to broadcast.

Good thing he had Pepper for that.

"So, to put it simply, you want to be preaching the innocence of the one person who caused all this damage to the tower." She said, gesturing the room they were standing in, at the top of the tower.

"Yeah, basically." Tony said, looking at the blueprints. "You'll know why when I do the conference."

"Well I trust your judgement." Pepper said, kissing Tony once before walking out to make a few phone calls.

Tony continued assessing damage, feeling a twinge of sympathy for the dent in the ground where Hulk had smashed Loki. Good thing he was Asgardian or he would have instantly died. He supposed it made them even, Loki DID throw him out the window after all.

OoOoOoOoOo

"As you very well know, New York city was quite recently the battleground for an alien invasion, as you know was commandeered by the Asgardian rogue, Loki, who was subdued and arrested once the portal was sealed.

It had then come to the attention of the Avengers that Loki may not have acted on his own accord, owing to the fact that he was in possession of a mind controlling weapon, you'll have seen the blue glow of his Sceptre. We have reason to believe he was under the same influence as those he controlled."

Tony looked out across the crowd of reporters, seeming shocked at the turn of events.

"As such, I am here to announce that Loki is innocent of his crimes against humanity, owing to an even bigger threat we are currently attempting to investigate, alongside SHIELD. Thor has taken Loki back to Asgard and we will hear from him soon. When we do, we may consider a statement from Loki himself.

Damage caused in New York will be repaired using a fund donated by yours truly. I would like to offer condolences to those who have lost loved ones, but at the same time I would like to emphasize that Loki is not directly to blame.

We hope that in time, he will attempt to redeem himself."

Realizing his was finished with his speech, the flock of reporters began shouting out questions, all of which Tony ignored as he was escorted out by his security.

"You caused quite the stir, Tony." Happy Hogan said as he dragged him out to the car.

"It had to be done." Tony said. "We actually want Thor to come back."

"And Loki?" Happy asked as he drove away.

"Depends if he WANTS to redeem himself." Tony said.

"You know a thing or two about second chances, don't you?" Happy sighed.

The rest of the way the car ride was mostly silent, apart from the phone calls from Fury, Steve, Bruce and Pepper.

Of course he ignored Fury's, but he picked up to hear Steve compliment his sensible way of announcing it, Bruce who asked if he could come by, and Pepper whom he told he would speak to soon in person at the Tower.

"Tony, is that all true?" Pepper asked as soon as he walked in. The sun was going down, casting a bright orange light across the lobby.

"Every word. Listen, Thor should come by in the next few days, if you want, you can ask the God of Mischief's brother himself." Tony said.

"I just might." Pepper said, frowning. "I won't believe it until I see it."

"Totally understandable." Tony said, waving off her uncertainty.

"It's just that... he killed Phil." Pepper said.

"I know, but he seems to regret it." Tony said, pushing her auburn hair out her face and behind her ear.

"We'll find out soon enough."


	4. Memorize

"Heimdall will keep an eye on Midgard, once Loki's innocence is accepted, he shall let us know." Thor told Odin.

"Very well. Please stand aside." Odin said.

Thor hesitated, but obeyed, no longer protecting Loki from Odin's interrogation.

"Loki Odinson, you have come before me to answer for the crimes committed on Asgard. What do you have to say in your defence?" Odin asked.

Loki remained silent.

"Loki." Thor said firmly.

Loki glanced at Thor for a second and Thor wondered if it even happened.

"If you have nothing to say then perhaps you will submit your memories for a Memory Reveal." Odin said.

"Don't you dare." Loki hissed, defensively.

"Loki!" Thor exclaimed.

"If it is the only way you will speak, then so be it." Odin said.

Loki blinked hard. "You want me to speak? Let my silver tongue prove your incompetence? Or my memories? Did you even hold hope that I was still alive? Or did you hope that I actually was dead? Maybe you mourned the loss of your precious gambling toy when it comes to your strained and bloodthirsty relationship with Jotunheim. You certainly never mourned the loss of a child you kidnapped for your own gain as opposed to theirs. You act like you care but you might as well swing the axe or imprison me. You already wish I were dead when you found me. Yet you lied and raised me as a liar, you even gave me the title of God of Lies. At least Thanos was honest about his intentions!"

The room was silent after that outburst. Loki flinched at his mistake and silently cursed himself for being so careless of his words. He just couldn't help it.

"Thanos?" Thor asked, eyes laid upon his stunned father, as if assuming he would know the name.

Odin remained impassive, his one eye gazed upon Loki with not a hint of emotion.

Loki knew that now he had screwed up, he might as well continue, albeit reluctantly.

"A mad Titan with an affinity for destruction. He travels from planet to planet, killing half the population, calling it mercy that the other half begins to thrive on more than enough resources to go around." Loki spat.

"He wanted Midgard?" Thor asked.

"No, he wanted the tesseract." Loki said, referring to the cube he knew was now locked away in Odin's vault.

"And if you succeeded, you would have given it to him." Odin said, as if it was obvious.

"You always did think so little of me. Once I won Midgard, I would have cast the stone out into space, along with the mind stone that Thor is holding right now." Loki said. Thor looked at the Sceptre in his hand. "Once I had Midgard, I would have created my own army of the humans weaponry and technology, and if Thanos should come looking for the Time Stone too, he would have had to get through me."

"The Time stone is on Midgard?" Frigga asked.

"It has been all along." Loki said.

"Three Infinity stone in my grasp meant three less in his."

"How did you come across him?" Thor asked.

Loki fell silent once again, which was the final straw for Odin. He stood up off his throne and walked up to Loki, who refused to step back in reaction.

"If you shall not speak, your memories will." Odin said, pressing his index and middle finger against Loki's head before he could react. Loki's eyes glossed over as he relived the memories his adoptive family would now begin to see.

The room phased out and an illusion set in, one where the audience could see every memory and feel every emotion Loki did.

 _Loki was in his room, reading a book as he often did, despite the fact his brothers coronation was about to begin. He was all dressed up in his ceremonial garb, and once the guards were sent to collect him due to his absence, he followed suit reluctantly._

 _He met his mother and Thor who stood outside the throne room, greeting them warmly, because having no desire for the throne, he felt no ill emotion towards Thor._

 _"My sons, are you ready?" Frigga asked, smiling at them._

 _"As ready as I will ever be!" Thor boasted, because that was just the way he was back then._

 _"I am also ready." Loki said, smiling back at her._

 _One of the guards called Frigga to him, conveying a message that the king wished to speak to her, so she left with the promise of coming back in a few minutes._

 _"Nervous, brother?" Loki asked._

 _"Have you ever known me to be nervous?" Thor asked, laughing._

 _"Well there was that time in Nornheim." Loki said, smirking._

 _"That's wasn't nerves brother, that was the rage of battle. How else could I have fought my way through a hundred warriors and pulled us out alive?" He asked._

 _"As I recall, I was the one who veiled us in smoke to ease our escape." Loki reminded._

 _"Some do battle, others just do tricks." Thor said._

 _Loki, though he didn't show it, felt a bubble of anger and hurt at the statement, even more so when an attendant nearby tried to stifle laughter. Not one to back down from ridicule, he cast an illusion of eels sliding out of the goblet he was holding, making him scream and drop it._

 _"Loki..." Thor warned, sighing._

 _Loki shook his head and cancelled the illusion, revealing the spilt wine and smashed goblet._

 _"Now that was a waste of good wine." Thor complained._

 _"Oh it was all a bit of fun." Loki said, smirking even if he didn't feel the fun himself. He was still angry about Thor's comment. "Right, my friend?" He asked the attendant, who looked at him uneasily._

 _Thor placed his helmet on his head._

 _"Nice feathers." Loki said, smirking._

 _"You don't really want to start this again, do you, Cow?" Thor asked._

 _"I was being sincere!" Loki said._

 _"You are incapable of sincerity." Thor said._

 _"Am I?" Loki asked seriously._

 _He and Thor looked at each other a few seconds, before Loki spoke again._

 _"I have looked forward to this day as long as you have. You're my brother and my friend. Sometimes I am envious, but never doubt that I love you."_

 _Thor searched his brothers expression for a moment, searching for a sign of sarcasm of lie, finding none._

 _"Thank you." Thor said, placing his hand on Loki's shoulder._

 _"Now give us a kiss." Loki joked._

 _"Stop." Thor laughed. "How do I look?"_

 _Loki took a moment. "Like a king."_

 _"It's time."_

 _"You go ahead." Thor said. "I'll be along, go on."_

 _Loki decided not to comment on it, still suspicious, but instead he left, heading inside._

 _The scene shifted to Loki standing near the throne with Frigga, Sif and the Warriors Three._

 _He was waiting for Thor to enter, looking out to the crowd that had gathered. He felt a sudden twinge in his heart and a chill run down his spine, but thought nothing of it as he continued to watch with a noticeably heavier heart._

 _Then the Frost Giants came._

 _At the time, Loki hadn't realized he let the Frost Giants in with his magic. Only when he went to Jotunheim, he did, but by then he found out his true heritage. He felt the heaviness hit him even from the memories, only knowing now what it actually was._

 _Thor and Odin argued twice that day about the Jotuns. The first was when they went to the very Realm and caused chaos, despite Loki's attempts to deter Thor and the second when Thor was banished._

 _With his still heavy heart and built up negative emotion, added onto by Odin shouting at Loki for trying to reason with him about Thor's banishment, he decided to go into the vault to examine the Casket of Ancient Winters. When he was touched by a Frost Giant, he turned blue instead of black like Volstagg, and with a brief but meaningful looked exchanged between him and the Frost Giant in question, he had his suspicions._

 _He carefully picked up the Casket, watching as his skin began to change from pale white to blue, before he heard Odin shout for him to stop._

Thor, who had never seen his Jotun form, but heard of it, was still shocked at his appearance. Head to toe blue with red eyes. Loki didn't dare to look up to see his reaction, to the adopted brother he grew up with revealing himself as the monster from a child's horror book.

 _"Am I cursed?" Loki asked, not having turned to face him yet._

 _"No." Odin sighed._

 _"What am I?" Loki asked, turning around slowly._

 _"You're my son." Odin said. Though he appeared to have realized that Loki knew he was grasping at straws._

 _"What more than that?" Loki asked. With no answer, he persisted. "The Casket wasn't the only thing you took from Jotunheim that day, was it?"_

Venom was seeping into his voice and his eyes flashed blue for a moment.

Odin hadn't noticed it at the time, but now he, Thor and Frigga noticed it, as did Loki.

 _"No." Odin sighed. "In the aftermath of the battle, I went into the Temple and I found a baby. Small for a giants offspring- abandoned, suffering, left to die. Laufey's son._

 _"Laufey's son?" Loki repeated, looking heartbroken. "Why? You were knee deep in Jotun blood, why would you take me?"_

 _"You were an innocent child." Odin insisted._

 _"No, you took me for a purpose, what was it?" Loki asked, stubbornly. When Odin didn't answer, Loki yelled. "TELL ME!"_

 _"I thought we could unite our kingdoms one day, bring about an alliance, bring about permanent peace... through you. But those plans no longer matter." Odin said._

 _"So I am no more than another stolen relic, locked up here until you may have use of me." Loki stuttered._

 _"Why do you twist my words?" Odin asked._

 _"You could have told me what I was from the beginning, why didn't you?" Loki asked._

 _"You are my son, my blood, I wanted only to protect you from the truth." Odin said._

 _"Because I am the monster parents tell their children about at night?" Loki asked, his voice breaking._

 _"Don't." Odin said._

 _"Oh it all makes sense now! Why you favoured Thor all these years, you could never have a Frost Giant on the throne of Asgard!" Loki yelled as Odin seemed to collapse. He stopped, watching his father fall into Odinsleep._

 _He touched his hand, suddenly realizing he still cared even after this revelation. "GUARDS! PLEASE HELP!"_

 _The guards running in was the last of that memory before it changed._

 _The scenes changed into those when Loki took the throne unwillingly, then into when the Warriors Three and Sif went to Midgard to bring back Thor and Loki sent to Destroyer to kill Thor._

 _The scene showed him falter and break down slightly when Thor's voice rang out through the throne room, apologizing for whatever he did to upset Loki._

 _Then he hit Thor and looked like he instantly regretted it._

 _The scene changed into the fight, and falling off the rainbow bridge. When Odin caught Thor, who gripped the staff that Loki was holding onto for dear life, he looked up at him to find disappointment on his face._

 _"I could have done it for us father! For you! For all of us!" Loki yelled._

 _"No Loki." Odin said._

 _All those present in the throne room felt Loki's heart shatter metaphorically, before they saw the Loki of the memory let go, falling into space._


	5. The Truth Will Out

The last Thor knew, Loki let go off the staff. He had no idea how he survived, but he knew he was about to find out with the next memory.

 _"Wake him." Said a deep voice._

 _Loki snapped awake, having felt his head get smashed into the ground to wake him. His surroundings were a ship, dark and grimy. His clothes were dirty, but all he acknowledged was pain and the tall, bulky figure in front of him, sitting on a throne of some kind, made of some kind of metal._

 _"Loki Laufeysson." The figure said, grinning darkly._

 _"How do you know my name?" Loki asked, not having the courage to correct him. It wasn't as if he was Odinson any longer or even in the first place._

 _"I have been watching you for a long time. Ever since you showed... promise." The voice said._

 _"Who... who are you?" Loki braved asking, receiving a bash to the head with a staff held by the other figure in the room that he assumed smashed his head into the ground to wake him up._

 _"I am the great Titan Thanos, and you, little prince, are here to serve a new purpose." Thanos said._

 _"A new... purpose?" Loki asked, thinking if he got on this Titan's good side, he would be a bit kinder with the violence._

 _"Correct. I see that you have been cast out. Your own brother threw you off the bridge, did he not?" Thanos asked._

 _"I... I believe I let go." Loki said, cautiously._

 _"You believe. Your... belief is incorrect. Your own father had no use of you, but I do." Thanos said, extending a hand out to him._

 _Loki hesitated a moment, before taking it and letting Thanos pull him to his feet. Why did his body hurt so much? How far did he drop?_

 _"Forgive me, you never told me what this purpose is." Loki said, hoping to charm the Titan._

 _"I believe you are familiar with the tesseract." Thanos said._

 _"That... that is just a legend, the subject of a child's story book." Loki insisted. The Other poked his leg hard enough to make Loki wince from the pain he was already in._

 _"How ill informed you are. Allow me to enlighten you: the tesseract is the holding cell for an Infinity Stone called the Space Stone, if you have heard of them?" Thanos asked. Loki nodded, keeping his eyes down. "It resides on Midgard, a planet I believe your good for nothing brother was banished to, but returned to Asgard."_

 _Loki's eyes hardened at the implication, but did not comment or protest. He may have argued and fought Thor, but he found that he still loved him dearly._

 _"You want me to retrieve it?" Loki surmised._

 _"Yes." Thanos said._

 _"Then what?" Loki asked, keeping Thanos thinking that he was interested._

 _"The universe is vast, yet every planet is vastly overpopulated, with not enough resources to go around; the less fortunate suffer. The Space Stone, along with others, will allow me to... fix that." Thanos said._

 _"More resources?" Loki half asked, half suggested._

 _"No, decimation of half the universes population. I call it mercy for those who would remain." Thanos said, his eyes hard and staring at Loki._

 _"I could never... feel so... strongly about that kind of... mercy... to take so many lives." Loki said, cautiously, keeping his head bowed._

 _Thanos stiffened. Before letting the tension out of his shoulders and sighing. He withdrew a red handled knife, with two blades on either side, showing it to him._

 _He balanced it on his finger. "Balance is key to thriving. Too much to one side..."_

 _The blade tilted._

 _"To the other..."_

 _The blade titled even more dangerously, falling off before Thanos caught it._

 _"I... could not wish to be a part of such a... an ideal." Loki confessed, looking down._

 _"I see." Thanos said, his words hanging in the air a few seconds before he gripped the blade tightly and stabbed Loki in the abdomen. Loki gasped in reaction, but tried not to give Thanos satisfaction._

 _"I shall speak to him later." Thanos said to the Other, ripping the blade out and letting him get dragged away and dropped into a dark and murky cell at the bottom of the ship, near an engine too loud for Loki to sleep off the pain. He would have to heal using magic, to at least stop himself bleeding out._

 _Having exhausted himself because of fear and using his healing magic, he fell unconscious._

 _Time passed, and he was woken again by something hitting his head hard. He looked up to see a noseless, thin figure holding some kind of baton._

 _"You will refer to me as Ebony Maw." Said the figure, hitting him again to make him get up, which he did with not too much difficulty._

 _"Hmm, you were stabbed less than three hours ago." Ebony said._

 _Loki said nothing._

 _"Speak." Ebony said, using the baton, sweeping it under his legs to make him smash into the ground in a kneeling position. He lowered his head._

 _"I... I have minor healing magic." Loki lied, letting his silver tongue speak for the first time on the ship._

 _Theoretically he hoped calling it minor would persuade them to go easier on him, as to not accidentally kill him._

 _"Then this shall be interesting." Ebony said, smiling._

 _The scene cut to Loki once again refusing to help, and being punished for his apparent insolence. He had been shown to get burned, cut, electrocuted, drowned, he had bones in his body broken constantly and his mouth sewn together shut to cease his screams. Since news of Loki's healing ability spread, it had been tested constantly, he was pushed beyond his limit with injuries, but he still held strong._

 _Day after day after day, and Loki found it even more difficult to stand when ordered to, earning him more crippling punishments._

 _Yet he still refused. His morals were still too high to stoop to such a low level as to kill innocent beings who weren't his enemies. He found himself thinking about his family, mainly his mother and Thor, sometimes he would miss them, other times he would remember they exiled him._

 _Didn't they? Thanos said constantly that Thor threw him off the bridge. Thanos told no other lies, so why would this be one?_

 _Thoughts like this made him grit his teeth and almost submit, but then he would remember that it would make his fa- no, Odin more disappointed in him. If THAT was possible._

 _Meanwhile, Thanos grew restless, time wasn't slowing down, and he found himself impatient waiting for Loki to submit. So he resorted to having Ebony Maw place a link to the Mind Stone in a Sceptre, which Ebony began to take with him when he woke Loki for torture. Or one of the other members of the Black Order if it was their turn. The only one who enjoyed it more than Ebony was Proxima Midnight, who favoured stabbing Loki to get him to wake up, with the Sceptre._

 _Loki found himself growing more and more negative as time went by, but he put it down to losing hope, that his family would really believe him dead, and not look for him. He hadn't realize that he was being slowly influenced by an Infinity stone._

 _Without him knowing it, his eyes grew even more blue by the day, as he listened to Thanos preaching his ideals and offering Loki 'his new purpose'._

 _Loki's mind had begun to twist without him realizing it and before Loki knew it, he had accepted. Something in him clicked when Thanos started telling him that his family had always meant to use him, had never loved him, and since Thanos rarely ever lied, Loki began to believe it. After all, Thanos never even taught his children to lie for he saw no need for lying._

 _"Soon the tesseract will be mine." Said Thanos. He raised his arm, revealing the Sceptre in his hands, which glowed a bright blue. He handed it to a reluctant Loki, whose eyes instantly turned icy blue._

 _Loki grinned, as he opened the door to Midgard using the Space Stone._

Then the memories cut out.

The royal family stood still, silent, until Frigga broke the silence with the clatter of chains on the floor: she used her magic to release them from Loki's wrists.

"My son." Frigga whispered as she approached him.

"Now you see everything." Loki spat at Odin. "Have I made you proud?"

"Why did you not tell us, tell me?" Thor asked, pale and shaking.

"So you have more reason to think me pathetic. If that's even possible." Loki said.

"The guards will escort you to your rooms, my sons." Odin said.

"Your father and I have much to discuss." Frigga said, giving Odin a meaningful look.

Loki didn't hesitate to leave- he wanted to be as far away as possible from them right now.

He did, however, stop outside and out of view to see if Thor was following, overhearing everything.

"Father, I know you and mother are about to have a long talk about this, but in the end, you owe Loki the biggest apology you can muster. I do too." Thor said, daring Odin to deny. He left after a moment of silence, immediately noticing Loki as soon as he stepped into the corridor.

"Bold of you to assume an apology would fix everything." Loki said calmly, no heat to his words.

"Brother, let us walk together." Thor said, dismissing the guards with a stern look.

Loki saw no advantage to declining, so he walked alongside him.

"Loki, I am sincerely sorry I have treated you terribly all our lives, if I had been aware of the blatant favouritism then I would have done something about it."

"Like what? Try to convince a stubborn idiot like Odin to treat us fairly." Loki asked. "You grew up your whole life believing Frost Giants were evil creatures, now you find out your brother is one, you change your mind? I hardly believe it. But that is why I was treated inferior. Odin and m- Frigga never cared about me."

"That's not true, Loki." Thor said.

"Is it not? Then prove it!" Loki yelled.

Thor slammed into him with a lung crushing hug that knocked the fight out of Loki. "If there was not an ounce of care in their hearts, you would have laid waste to a frozen hell."

"Then I wouldn't be such a burden-"

"Then I would be dead." Thor insisted. "The many times you have saved my life and I never acknowledged it. Do you realize I told stories of how I saved YOU because I always thought you the Golden son."

"Wh- what?" Loki whispered.

"Yes, you were always so much smarter than me, you had a unique style of combat. I always... looked down... on you because I felt you were so much better than I was. You still are."

"Forgive me if I do not believe that." Loki said.

"I do. I forgive everything. I know mother and father do too." Thor said.

"Ha, now there is something you can't prove." Loki snapped.

"Not my place to. It's theirs." Thor said. "I will always love you no matter what, I will never stop fighting for you even if it is you I am fighting or if it is you fighting my affection."

Then he walked away with one more reassuring grasp of his shoulder, the kind Loki craved while he was imprisoned.

Loki walked to his room.

OoOoOoOoOo

The hours went by, Loki had picked up a book, the same book he was in the middle of reading before... everything.

This was probably the longest conversation his parents had with each other, though he knew it was for good reasons.

He didn't doubt that it consisted of Frigga trying to persuade Odin to apologize and Odin not moving an inch.

Eventually, there was a knock on his door.

"You may enter." Loki said, simply hoping it was a servant. His luck ran out when he saw his father enter without his mother in tow.

It was just Loki and Odin alone. Either apologies will be given or anger will fly.


	6. Thick Ice

Loki reluctantly put down his book, and stood up off his bed to face Odin, who kept his distance by the door.

"My son." Odin said. "I am to understand that I have not been at all fair towards you."

"That's very true." Loki snarked, just about able to not roll his eyes.

Odin ignored it. "I had thought if I held you to the same standards as Thor, you would both fight for the throne, which places Asgard in grave danger of a civil war. I see now that I was wrong and I deeply apologize for the centuries of neglect I have forced upon you."

Loki searched his expression for sincerity, and found nothing but that. He let his demeanour drop slightly.

"That's for certain. Mother was always the only one there for me." Loki said, hoping to gauge a reaction from him. It was his way of evaluating how sincere a person was being.

"I hope now we can repair our relationship, however much damage has been caused to it. You are declared innocent and I hope to redeem myself not just as your ruler, but as your father." Odin said.

"Well... I... I hope that too." Loki said, mainly attempting to avoid a heated argument from flaring up.

Odin excused himself, but not before telling Loki he can confide in him from now on.

Not that Loki thought he ever would, but he hoped the day would come.

Loki spent the next few hours exploring the castle, noting anything that might have changed in his years absence. His father must have spread word of Loki's innocence, because every time a servant passed him, they told him they were glad he was fine or that he was back after so long. He found he liked the attention, normally servants and guards and pretty much everyone ignored him in favour of Thor.

Talking of which.

SMASH.

A vase in the hallway he was passing though smashed on the ground. Loki didn't even react since he knew he was being followed.

Thor was a clumsy oaf after all.

Loki turned back and waved his hands towards the smashed pieces that Thor was obsessing over, putting it all together again in one piece, just as it was before.

"Brother!" Thor grinned, sheepishly.

"You were following me." Loki said.

"I was not."

"Yes you were."

"No."

"Thor, you were following me."

"Maybe I was."

Thor grinned at Loki while the corner of Loki's mouth tilted up slightly.

"It's been a while since we had that kind of exchange." Thor said.

"I guess it has." Loki said, sighing.

"I missed it. I really missed everything." Thor sighed, walking up to Loki.

"Apparently everyone did." Loki said, referring to the servants greetings and welcome back messages.

"Well, believe it or not, some of your pranks gave the servants a reason to turn up everyday when I just destroyed things in my rages." Thor said, throwing his arm around Loki's shoulders. Loki made no attempt to throw him off, not wanting to offend Thor by giving a cold shoulder.

"Very secret admirers then. I had no idea anyone cared." Loki said.

"You couldn't be any more wrong." Thor said, squeezing Loki.

"Is there a reason why you were so obviously following me around?" Loki asked. "Couldn't give me a moments peace?"

"Yes, actually. Heimdall informed me that Tony Stark has made his announcement. The Midgardian governments are asking for a... what do you call it? A circumference." Thor said.

"Probably a conference." Loki corrected. "Why?"

"They are asking that you and I attend, so it must be to receive a personal statement from you. It seems friend Starks attempts to appeal to your innocence has only taken us so far and the rest is yours to finish." Thor said.

"I suppose we should go soon?" Loki sighed, nursing an oncoming headache.

"I shall inform Heimdall to send a message to Tony." Thor said. "All will work out fine brother."

Then Thor left.

Loki continued to explore for a little while longer, having entered Frigga's garden, in which she only allowed him to roam in and never Thor. He felt victorious as a child when his mother made it very clear that Thor would destroy her flowers, much to Thor's dissaproval.

The sun was starting to set, and he knew he would have to face his family at dinnertime, the rules of being a member of a royal family. He sat on a marble bench until then, reading the book he decided to bring exploring with him.

OoOoOoOoOo

"Good evening, my son." Frigga greeted, taking Loki's hands in hers as they met in the corridor leading towards the dining hall.

"Good evening Mother." He replied, flashing a smile, even if it was fake and she could tell.

Still, she said nothing.

"I wondered if you could join us." She confessed.

"I couldn't stay in my room all the time. You know Thor wouldn't approve, neither would you." Loki said.

"You're quite right." Frigga sighed. "We really must talk though."

"Must we? This was going so well." Loki said.

"You know as well as I do that problems are not just going to walk away. The kingdom needs its royal family intact, any fighting within the palace walls and Asgard risks its civilian lives in a civil war." Frigga said.

"Is that why you only have one biological child? Because you never expected your husband, knee deep in Jotun blood, to bring the child of the Jotun king back with him." Loki asked.

"If Odin did not want you, he would have left you." Frigga scolded.

"Unless for a political advantage." Loki said. Before she could reply with an argument, he continued. "Either way, he has apologized and so I must remain civil enough towards him."

Frigga said nothing, obviously disappointed in Loki's change of character over the year. Still, she knew he had changed, how much was a different matter. They both entered the fining hall where Thor and Odin were already seated and waiting.

"Good evening." Loki greeted, a bit stiffly.

"Good evening, my son." Odin replied.

"Good evening, Brother!" Thor's enthusiastic voice rang out, giving Loki the urge to roll his eyes. He sat down next to Thor as he always did, with Frigga opposite Thor and Odin at the head of the table.

"How is the kingdom faring?" Loki asked, keeping all personal matters out the conversation for now.

"They have received word of your innocence. In no time at all they will be welcoming you back with parties that last all night!" Thor said.

"I wouldn't be that unrealistic, Thor." Loki said.

"I know I will be celebrating." Thor retaliated.

"By drinking yourself into oblivion as you always did when we were younger." Loki said.

"A wonderful way to go." Thor said.

"Boys." Frigga warned, smiling.

"With the tesseract in the vault, Asgard becomes a target for many seeking the stone residing inside." Loki said.

"We will be ready for them." Odin assured him. "I do wish to know more about Thanos."

"Right now?" Loki asked, feeling a bubble of anger. He tampered it down quickly.

"Asgard is not the only Realm in danger of this Titan, if he targets others we must be ready to intercept him." Odin explained.

"You do realize he will not dare attack with you as King?" Loki said. "He may be powerful but he recognizes power when he sees it."

"So he will just hide away like a coward." Thor said.

"He will bide his time more like." Loki said. "Either way, you are not likely to cross his path any time soon."

The conversation silenced, before Frigga decided to ask about Migard.

"The man of Iron works hard to clear Loki of his offenses. In no time, Loki would be able to go back to Midgard and testify." Thor said.

"Who said I wanted to go back?" Loki said, lightly.

"Brother, if you never go to Midgard, the people will assume you are ashamed to face them." Thor said.

"I do not care what those mortals think, they live and die within a small fraction of our own lifespans and are quite replaceable." Loki said.

"Loki, how could you say that without first hand experience. You will soon change your mind." Thor said.

"Guarantee that I won't." Loki said.

"A hug says you're wrong." Thor said, grinning.

"A hug, really Thor?" Loki said, his eyebrows knitting together.

"Yes. If I am right, we will exchange a long overdue embrace." Thor said.

"And if you're wrong?" He asked.

"Well then... I'll let you stab me." Thor said.

"Thor!" Frigga gasped.

"Deal." Loki said almost immediately. He did not miss the disappointed look on Frigga's face but chose to ignore it.

"I must leave you now. I have a council meeting to attend." Odin said, standing from his seat.

"Father, you never have them at this time of day." Thor said, confused.

"I am afraid it is quite urgent." Odin said.

"What is it?" Frigga asked.

Odin looked at them, hesitantly at Loki, which said person caught.

"With Laufey dead for over a year, the Frost Giants are without an heir and are henceforth declaring war with Asgard." He announced.


	7. Strategy

With Laufey dead for over a year, the Frost Giants are without an heir and are henceforth declaring war with Asgard." He announced.

"Wh-what?" Thor stuttered.

"News of how their King died reached the Frost Giants, I am afraid they call for Loki's blood." Odin sighed.

"And I suppose the meeting is to decide whether to utilize me for my initial purpose?" Loki asked, fire laced in his voice.

"Loki." Frigga warned.

"No, no. I knew this would come. I followed the Frost Giants politics for a while after Laufey's death while I was on Midgard. It was inevitable that my blood being spilt would end quite a few conflicts. I really should not be surprised, it's hardly ironic." Loki said.

"They are unaware of your blood relation to Laufey. If you tell them, won't they stop?" Thor asked.

"I am not sure they would appreciate the rule of a King who murdered his predecessor." Loki said, inwardly flinching at the similar phrasing he used in conversation with Laufey all that time ago.

"But you are their only heir." Thor protested.

"It doesn't seem like you want to get rid of me at all." Loki said, voice dripping with bitter sarcasm.

"It is not that. It's just you want to rule a kingdom. So rule Jotunheim." Thor said.

"I want to rule? Is that what you really think? After all this time, when I had no interest and now after a year I come back and you think me different? And Jotunheim of all places? The species that left me to die?" Loki yelled. He left his seat, storming out of the dining hall and leaving his family in a trail of dust.

"Dear, you wouldn't consider surrendering Loki to their rage, surely?" Frigga said.

"I do not. Though there is no understating that Loki's decisions and involvement are vital to the outcome, so I must speak to him before long." Odin said.

"That's one way to sever the last of whatever relationship you had left with him." Frigga said. Odin chose not to answer, leaving her and Thor behind.

"Mother. I would rather fight them than give Loki to them, you know that." Thor said.

"I do know. It is not our best option at this time, however, we must try to go about this peacefully." Frigga said.

"Of course." Thor said reluctantly.

OoOoOoOoOo

When Loki stormed out the dining room, he debated about heading straight to the garden to ensure Thor and Odin did not come looking for him, however he didn't trust himself enough to not destroy Frigga's flowers or anything else in it, so he headed straight to his room- he had detached himself from anything materialistic in the space of a year so he resorted to smashing a few of his possessions.

A few hours passed, his room was scattered in shards of glass, china, and pieces of metal bent into unrecognizable jagged shapes due to his magic, he sat in the centre of his room, him having even torn up his bed and furniture.

He was examining his hands, which were covered in cuts from smashing things by squeezing them, not in the mood to heal himself. He eyed a portrait of he and his family, when he and Thor were merely children. They were painted happy- at a time where Loki was so close to Frigga he hadn't yet realized how neglected he was by Odin and how much he craved his recognition. Only now, he knew the bittersweet memories that were really embedded in it.

He stood up, slowly and cautiously as to not press his hands onto any shards on the floor around him and approached the painting.

Another materialistic object in his materialistic room.

Yet he somehow felt the urge not to destroy it. Whether it was a voice telling him he would regret it, or telling him that he can destroy it later when the time comes to disown his family, either way, he hesitantly placed a hand on the frame lightly, feeling the wood engravings and the smooth pattern. Odin did only hire the best craftsmen to build their furniture.

He pulled his hand away at a knock on the door. Having long ago been able to discern the different knocks of most people, this was one of the servants.

He opened the door, his body filling the open gaps to hide the damage of his room from the one it did not concern.

"My prince, the king requests your presence in the throne room." She said, bowing upon seeing him.

"I shall arrive shortly." He said, holding back a defeated sigh.

She bowed again, taking her leave.

Loki shut the door, turning to face his room. It would take a while to fix everything back to the way it was before, so he simply cast an illusion should anyone glance in. If someone got too nosy, he would know about it when they cut their feet on the still scattered glass.

He left shortly after casting a clothes changing spell on him, smoothing down his slightly askew hair, and replacing his clothes for those without tears.

He hesitated before opening the doors, debating about whether he was ready to face his family again after the outburst earlier. He could always turn around and head back to his room, Odin would get angry but what else is new when it came to Loki? The son he was ashamed of. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door, noticing immediately Thor's battle outfit, complete with the helmet.

"Why is this oaf wearing his feathers?" Loki asked, walking up to the throne.

"You'll soon be back to wearing your horns, cow." Thor said, his expression and tone serious.

"Am I missing something?" Loki asked, directly at Odin.

"I have made every attempt to reconcile with the Jotuns, without breaking the secret of your heritage, though they are futile." Odin explained.

"So you want Thor and I to burst in, swords gleaming, to do what exactly?" Loki asked.

"Frigga informed me of your skill when it comes to diplomatic compromise." Odin said.

"Of course, you never noticed." Loki muttered, though everyone heard him.

"As such, I would like for you and Thor, accompanied by the Warriors Three and Lady Sif, to persuade a truce with the governors." Odin said.

"That's such a good idea, we all know what happened the last time Thor went to Jotunheim." Loki said.

"I will be following your lead no matter what happens, brother." Thor assured.

"You? Following MY lead?" Loki asked in disbelief.

Before Thor could answer, Odin spoke up. "May I have a moment alone with Loki."

Frigga eyed him suspiciously, but said nothing as she gently pulled Thor from the room, who searched his fathers expression for clues.

Hearing the door shut behind him, Loki also searched his fathers face for clues, because unlike Thor, he was rather good at observation. "Are we making a habit of this now?"

"My son, if you have a strategy for this, I would like to hear it." Odin said.

"Why would you want my opinion?" Loki asked.

"Because after having ignored it for centuries, I have come to realize that I should have always valued it. Still, now is better than never." Odin said.

"You really weren't lying about trying to reconcile." Loki said, frowning.

"I thought you could tell if a person was lying." Odin smirked. "Or are you not the God of lies?"

"Did you just... make a joke?" Loki asked, perplexed.

"My son, I have asked Thor to follow your lead because I know you have your hesitations about engaging in war that benefits no one. One may find that kind of perspective useful." Odin said, growing serious again.

"And you want me to do what exactly?" Loki asked.

"Do what you do best. Talk with that silver tongue of yours." Odin replied.

Loki looked like he was about to answer back, but the look on Odin's face told him it was a compliment so he nodded once and transformed his outfit into his battle uniform, his helmet under his left arm.

Odin called Thor back in briefly wishing them both good luck before they met up with Thor's friends who were speaking to Frigga.

"Be careful, my sons, watch each others backs." Frigga said, hugging Thor, then Loki, who suddenly found himself nostalgic of his childhood. He craved his mothers hugs more than anything in his imprisonment and found himself with the hard task of letting go.

Leaving the palace, the six headed to the Bifrost in silence, give for a brief greeting between Thor and his friends when they left the castle together.

"Heimdall, if something goes wrong, bring us back immediately." Thor said, standing before space.

"I shall be watching." Heimdall said, twisting the sword and watching as the six were launched at Jotunheim.


	8. Freeze

All six landed on their feet, suddenly hit by the freezing temperatures, well... all but Loki, who was wearing no furry garments like the others in a bid to keep warm, this was technically his habitat.

"This is the same place as last time. We aren't far from the castle." Fandral said, looking around.

"If that's true, there should be Frost Giants all around, especially near impending war." Sif said, holding out her sword.

"Then we had better step carefully as to not walk into a trap as you are so good at doing." Loki said, smirking as the insult went completely over the boys heads but not Sif's, who glared at him. They began their trek, Thor walking slightly ahead of Loki like his bodyguard- something Loki rolled his eyes about.

"Is it me or is the temperature dropping?" Volstagg commented.

"Even I feel it." Loki said, readying his daggers as he hid them in his sleeves. Thor's grip tightened on Mjolnir, as did the other warriors with their own weapons.

"They must be nearby. It will be a miracle to reach the palace now." Hogun grunted.

"Of ye of little faith." Loki muttered, stepping forwards and distancing himself from Thor.

"Jotuns, I am Loki of Asgard, we come in peace to discuss a truce with your governers." Loki said, loud enough to the thin air for any in the vicinity to hear.

"Asgardians." Said a low voice from the shadows. "And the traitor of the house of Odin."

"There is no traitor here." Thor called back with his booming voice.

"We request audience with your government." Loki said. "We are willing to discuss this in a civilised manner if you are."

Silence reigned for a few agonizingly long seconds, but the voice spoke up. "You will enter, only you and the woman."

Thor looked at Sif, who gave him a reassuring nod before catching up to Loki who moved forwards instantly.

"Are we just going to wait here?" Fandral asked, watching them enter.

"Nothing else we can do if we are to succeed." Thor said. "But the second we recognize trouble, we storm them."

OoOoOoOoOo

Sif began to shiver a little, the castle being even colder than outside. Loki took pity on her, conjuring with his magic, one of her furry cloaks.

She looked up at him, nodding her thanks. Following one Jotun to a large hall, he looked back at them with an unreadable expression before opening the large doors that Loki and Sif thought only Thor and Volstagg together could open.

Sif pulled Loki to a halt when he began to move, walking through the doors first. He might have rolled his eyes if he weren't ever so slightly touched by her loyalty to Thor to protect him.

"Loki Odinson, we have been expecting you." Said a Jotun wearing what looked like a sash worn often by Jotun royalty at a diplomatic event like this. He must be wearing it because there was no one else to do so.

"We expected you to. After all, you wanted me to appear before you, so here I am." Loki said.

"You come to our kingdom to cause more trouble like your brother." The Jotun said.

"Quite the opposite. The king of Asgard requests a truce be written up, one that I believe we can make a better compromise on than the first." Loki said.

"Better for whom? The Asgardians who almost destroyed almost every Jotun in existance?" The Jotun said.

"For both in order to ensure a peaceful reign for both our kingdoms." Loki replied, becoming even more cautious with his words as he felt a shiver down his spine.

"Peaceful? Is that what you call your attempt to rip our planet in half? Is that what you call invading our land over a year ago and now?" The Jotun asked, anger flaring up in all the Frost Giants in the room. Loki and Sif counted at least thirty.

"Mistakes were made and judgements proved faulty. These were both the actions of children who knew no better. As one of them, I am here to mend my mistakes." Loki said.

"And mend your mistakes, you will, with the spilling of your blood." The Jotun growled, approaching them. Sif stood inbetween him and Loki, while Loki tried to pull her away the advancing enemies.

In a last ditch effort to calm the Jotuns, Loki spoke. "To spill my blood will be the biggest mistake you could make."

"Oh we have been a year without a monarchy, to spill the blood of the traitorous last heir of Jotun makes no difference to Jotunheim." The Jotun said.

"You- you know?" Loki sputtered.

"To think you were Laufeys son, but you are but a runt." The Jotun said.

Then they attacked.

OoOoOoOoOo

"How long has it been?" Fandral asked.

"Too long without any word." Thor said, wandering back and forth and looking like he was making the guarding Jotuns uneasy.

"I don't suppose you can tell us?" Fandral asked a Jotun, who only growled back. "Just thought I'd ask."

The darkness was disrupted by a jet of green light coming from the castle.

Thor snapped his eyes up, extending the handle of Mjolnir, before he launched it at the Jotuns nearby. The Warriors snapped into their senses, following on foot as Thor span his hammer and flew to the castle.

"We could do with something like that." Volstagg panted.

Thor landed on the roof of the castle, swinging down to burst open a window below and launching his hammer at the Jotuns in the room before running out to find Loki and Sif.

OoOoOoOoOo

When the Jotuns attacked, Sif intercepted the first icicles with her blades, while Loki cast multiple illusions around the room to baffle and confuse the enemies.

Sif seemed to be holding her own, but was clearly showing fatigue at being outnumbered. Loki took that as a sign to throw a burst of green magic through the window to alert the others to their distress, turning back around just in time to see some enemies attack him with their large forms, all punches and kicks of whom he dodged skillfully, stabbing through some of those unfortunate to cross his path with his horned helmet in his hand. He was thankful for it and would always make an excuse when Thor called him cow in future.

"We need to get out of here and get to the others." He called back to Sif.

"We can barely hold them off, never mind escaping." Sif hissed as she got touched very briefly by a Jotun. Her skin turned black on the back of her left hand.

"Then you should be thankful I'm here." Loki said, throwing out a black mist to cover their escape as he dragged her towards the door. He suddenly felt a hard impact of ice and snow, realizing the Jotuns were trying to freeze them to death. He instinctively resumed his original Jotun form and protected Sif with his body.

She looked up and recoiled in alarm at Loki's bright red eyes, suddenly remembering Thor told her he was a Jotun.

"Go. I'll hold them off." Loki hissed.

"No, I will not leave you." Sif said.

"Damn it, don't argue!" Loki yelled as he threw a dagger at an incoming giant.

All of a sudden, Mjolnir struck down six at a time, Thor running into the battle. He glanced briefly at Sif, and then at Loki in his Jotun form, looking relieved that they were uninjured thus far. He recalled his hammer, ready to fight.

"Will your father be here to save you this time?" The Jotun with the sash asked, mockingly.

"Will your combat skills?" Thor fired back.

Disliking the insult, they launched at Thor just as the Warrior's joined them, suddenly but briefly surprised by Loki's appearance.

Six Asgardian's and over twenty Jotun's threw themselves as each other in a bid to survive.

"Loki, you and Sif get out of here." Thor ordered, after throwing his hammer.

"What? No, I won't leave you." Loki insisted.

"Go!" Thor yelled.

Loki hissed at him, dragging Sif from the battle and into the corridor.

"Thor wants us to get back to Asgard, we need backup now." Loki said.

"And we're just going to leave him? You're a coward, Loki!" Sif shouted at him.

"Better a coward than dead." Loki said, taking her comment to heart. She looked back at him, feeling a stab of guilt in her gut. She hadn't noticed a Jotun wearing a sash, launch at her with a sharp icicle in his grasp.

Loki pushed her aside, feeling the cold stab of ice penetrate his abdomen.


	9. Valor

In the midst of battle, Thor suddenly heard a scream that sounded a lot like...

"Loki!" He yelled as he recalled his hammer and ran out of the room. He just turned the corner of the corridor to see a Jotun with a sash hit the floor with one of Loki's daggers in his neck.

He turned to his brother, watching helplessly as he dropped to the floor, caught awkwardly by Sif who left him down gently.

"I did not see him coming, Loki pushed me out the way and took the fall himself." Sif explained as she tried to stem the blood flow.

"Watch my back." Thor said to her as he took over, ripping off a piece of his cape and wrapping it around Loki's stomach, red clashing brightly with green.

"I got you, you're going to be fine, you can heal yourself." Thor said to Loki, who was gasping slightly as he tried to draw in oxygen.

"I'm- I'm sorry, I should've paid-paid attention. I should have insisted you come with- with me!" Loki said, shivering.

"No, I should have come sooner. Hang in there, brother, you're going to be fine." Thor said, picking Loki up, bridal style.

"Get him out of here, I will go get the others." Sif said, running off before Thor could protest.

Having no other option, unable to fight with his arms occupied, he ran through the corridors with Loki in his arms, before noticing a couple of Jotuns running towards them.

Having some awareness of the situation, Loki forced himself to roll out of Thor's arms and conjured to daggers which he embedded into their chests.

He keeled over almost instantly, before Thor draped Loki's arm over his shoulder, leaving a hand free to throw his hammer

"You fool." Thor muttered into his ear.

"A fool that just saved our lives." Loki countered with a cough.

"Yes. Just don't do it again." Thor sighed as he supported Loki down the corridor.

"We are not doing get help, by the way." Loki said.

Thor laughed, realizing this was their 'get help' positions. "Absolutely not, little brother."

He ruffled Loki's hair with his hand before going back to support him again. Loki looked stunned by the gesture.

"We are almost out, as soon as we're far enough, we will call for Heimdall to get us out." Thor said, eying the entrance up ahead.

"What about your friends fighting so we can get out?" Loki asked, his eyebrows raising.

"We risk going back, you could get killed, I risk leaving you here to do so, you could get killed." Thor said.

"Thor, turn back, get them." Loki said, halting in his place and almost knocking both of them to the ground.

"I am not leaving you." Thor repeated.

"I'll be right here, I won't let the Jotuns see me, I promise." Loki said, pushing Thor away from him and leaning against the wall.

Thor hesitated, then gave in, he gave Loki his feather helmet, since he left behind the cow horned one. He thrust it on Loki's head, running off before he could protest.

'He and Lady Sif are too alike.' Loki thought.

He reached inwardly to his healing magic, which was a bit more difficult than normal since he was still in his Jotun form. He couldn't seem to change back to his Asgardian form and blamed it on instinct in the freezing environment.

OoOoOoOoOo

"You left Loki?" Hogun asked as Thor ran back to fight the rest with the warriors.

"He insisted." Thor replied, throwing the hammer.

"Thor, you idiot." Fandral said as he slashed his sword into a Jotun.

Thor gave no reply, intending on finishing the battle as soon as he could.

They Frost Giants seemed to just keep on coming, tiring the Asgardians out quickly.

All of a sudden, a great beam of rainbow light struck through the ceiling, with the Asgardian filing out into the room.

"Heimdall must have sent them." Volstagg laughed.

"Now go back to Loki!" Hogun insisted. Thor nodded and ran out, Sif following him close behind.

OoOoOoOoOo

Thor reached the entrance where he left Loki, finding no sign of life, but a pool of blood.

"Where did he go?" Sif asked, following a trail of blood until is suddenly stopped.

"He must have healed. That's why the blood ends. But where did he go?" Thor asked. He called out, waiting for an answer. He got none.

"Split up." Sif said, running off.

Thor went outside, wondering if he left the grounds of the castle, seeing no sign of even the Frost Giants. He did however, spot a garden, though frozen, it seemed to have plants that grew naturally in that climate.

He entered through an archway of jagged but beautiful spikes of ice, gazing upon a garden that he thought could have matched what he saw of his mothers from a distance. (He wasn't bitter about being forbidden entry into hers, no way).

"Loki?" Thor called out. He heard a shuffling sound, his attention drawn towards the largest tree that stood in the centre of the garden. There was a swing, and on it sat... "Loki."

Loki looked up, looking pale and as if he had been crying just a bit.

"Did Laufey build this for me before my birth? Do you think he had other children that even the Jotuns didn't know about?" Loki asked as Thor crouched in front of him.

"It certainly looks like it's been here for centuries." Thor smiled sadly.

"It seems fitting that I would have grown up here. That is, I can picture it." Loki said, looking up at the tree and swinging slightly.

"If you did, could you have pictured growing up on Asgard?" Thor asked. "As my brother?"

"I don't know. I may have even ended up hating Asgard." Loki replied.

"What else is new then?" Thor teased, running his hand over the bark.

"Do you really think I hate Asgard?" Loki asked.

"Your actions say a lot. Loki, we all want to reconcile with you even if you don't want to reconcile with us." Thor said. He paused, changing the conversation back to the previous one. "Could you have wished to grow up here instead?"

"I'll let you know when I have the answer." Loki replied simply.

Thor processed the reply, then nodded and held out his hand for Loki to take. He pulled him up and hugged him as long as time permitted, before they headed back to the bifrost site away from the grounds.

"The Asgardian army came didn't they? I saw the light hit the castle." Loki said.

"Yes, they'll handle everything else." Thor said, calling for Heimdall to take them back.

OoOoOoOoOo

Once they arrived, Heimdall informed them that he told Sif Thor had found Loki, letting them go to the palace to rest and heal any lingering injuries.

"My sons, what happened?" Odin asked, looking at a gash on Loki's forehead, gently turning Loki's head to look at the damage.

"They weren't willing to listen, no matter what I did." Loki replied.

"Hmm, very well. You did well, all the same and I am glad you are both relatively unscathed." Odin said.

"Why have you not healed yet?" Frigga asked.

"He probably used up all his energy healing the stab wound." Thor said.

"Thor!" Loki exclaimed.

"You were stabbed?" Frigga asked, now looking him over.

Loki pushed her away gently.

"Like Thor blurted, I healed myself."

"How did it happen?" She asked.

"Saved Lady Sif from the same fate instead." Thor said. Loki was glaring at him now. Thor suspected he would stab HIM later.

"Oh, my son, a valiant deed. I'm proud of you." Frigga said, placing her hand against his head and healing the gash.

"How did you get that injury?" Thor asked.

"There was a Frost Giant in that garden that seemed displeased to see me." Loki said, shrugging.

"Loki... I did tell you to stay put." Thor said.

"Actually I said I would. But I lied obviously." Loki said.

"Obviously." Thor replied. He broke into a grin and slung his shoulder over Loki's. Odin dismissed them, letting Loki rest up more before seeking him out again for a more detailed explanation.

 **Reviews are always welcome and great motivators! Not to mention it would remind me to update, hehe.**


	10. Temperment

Loki slept the next few hours. When he and Thor headed to Loki's room, Loki forgot he trashed it, so when they entered, Thor stepped on a piece of metal which thankfully did not stab through his boot, but Loki immediately pulled away the illusion, showing Thor just how much damage he caused.

So now Loki was in Thor's room instead, sleeping, while Thor decided he would clean up a bit in Loki's. Thor frowned at the scene, realizing that it was probably after the argument about Jotunheim that Loki went on a rage through his possessions. Still, he never knew Loki to have such a bad temper, but then again, maybe all influence of the mind stone hadn't quite left him. He would have to speak to his parents, despite Loki earlier asking him not to breath a word about it (more like threaten to stab him, but basically the same thing to Loki).

That was why Thor didn't call upon any of the servants, doing everything himself. The upside to this is that the only thing untouched was the portrait of their family which showed Thor that Loki still wanted to be along them, as much as he acted as if he just tolerated them. Thor picked up a rather jagged looking piece of metal, which he realized was part of the sceptre. Where did Loki get it if it was placed in the vault?

He pocketed it.

After a couple of hours, Loki walked in, frozen at the sight of everything back to some semblance of normal- Thor had even replaced the bed, though what excuse he gave to get rid of the old one was beyond his knowledge.

"You cleaned up." Loki said.

"Of course, it's the least I could do for you saving Sif." Thor said. "And you're my brother whom I have concerns for."

"Concerns?" He asked.

"You never used to have this temper." Thor said, closing the gap between him and Loki.

Loki thought for a second, then shut his door and locked it.

"Things change, people change, like me."

"Not as much as you think you have. There is still a lot of semblance of how you used to be in there." Thor said. "Have you been near the vaults lately?"

"No, of course not, why would I?" Loki asked, confused, but not defensive.

"Only curious, brother. I wondered if maybe this rage is the influence still lingering of the Mind stone." Thor said.

"Or maybe I have developed an intolerance to stupidity." Loki said, looking at Thor like he was stupid.

"Oh no, you've always been like that." Thor grinned, patting Loki on the shoulder, causing him to smile a little.

"I..." Loki began, then he hesitated.

"Yes?" Thor said.

"I wanted to thank you for looking out for me on Jotunheim, even if my form changed and you could easily have just killed me where I stood." Loki said.

"Loki, maybe growing up I thought Frost Giants were evil, but now, having been banished and had sense knocked into my head, I see all species have their good and bad side, just look at the many Asgardian criminals lining the cells in the dungeon. You are still my brother, no matter where you were born or if we share blood." Thor said, his hand moved to Loki's neck to keep his attention on him.

"Well... either way." Loki said, stepping aside to let Thor leave.

"I suspect Sif will look for you later, brother." Thor said, before leaving.

OoOoOoOoOo

As soon as Thor left Loki, he sought out his parents, his hand in his pocket feeling the cool metal from the sceptre. He found them wandering around the garden in deep discussion, and Thor waited on the edge for them to notice him.

Despite his jealousy of not being allowed in the garden, he still obeyed his mother.

"Thor, come." Frigga said, once she spotted him and gave him a look of confusion and amusement.

He raised his eyebrow, smiling, then he entered the garden for the first time in his life. It was no surprise Loki liked to get away from his family here, it really was peaceful, but ironic for the God of Chaos, Thor inwardly grinned at the hilarity of it all.

"Mother, Father, I have a conflict I should like to bring up." Thor said.

"What kind of conflict?" Frigga asked.

"A Loki related one." Thor said.

"Let us take a seat." Odin said, choosing the nearest marble bench. Frigga sat in the middle of Odin and Thor, the attention primarily on Thor.

"What is the issue?" Frigga asked.

"We went to his room shortly after we left you earlier, he had destroyed every last piece of possession and furniture he had in there... except the family portrait." Thor added quickly.

"I have not known him to have such a temper." Odin said.

"He never had one, father. Now it seems to be so much worse than my own." Thor said. He pulled out the piece of metal.

"He twisted it with his magic." Frigga said, taking it from him. "I can not even shift it with my own."

"You're saying his anger makes him even more powerful than you, mother?" Thor asked.

"Not his anger, he's just stronger in general." Frigga said. "He always tampered it down, I had no idea."

"Father, tell me you recognise what it was." Thor said, turning to Odin and transferring the metal from Frigga's hands to his.

He took a mere glance before getting up and walking off. Frigga looked back at Thor for an explanation.

"The sceptre." Thor just said. He held his hand out to her, and they followed Odin as quick as they could.

They reached the vault, where Odin was examining a empty stand where the sceptre was once displayed.

"Loki said he was nowhere near the vault." Thor said. "Even scoffed at the idea."

"How could he have gotten that piece?" Frigga asked.

"This is something I shall have to question him about." Odin said.

"Would he not have taken the tesseract too?" Thor asked.

"Why is it glowing brighter than usual?" Frigga asked, taking a closer look.

"Leave me to examine it closer. Find me Loki, please." Odin said.

Frigga and Thor exchanged a glance, deciding to obey him and find Loki. Well, after a brief discussion, Frigga decided she should instead of Thor.

She knocked on Loki's room, entering upon his answer.

"Mother." Loki greeted, smiling at her and joining hands with her.

"How do you feel?" Frigga asked.

"Back to normal, I rested." Loki said.

"May we talk?" Frigga asked.

"Of course." Loki said, confused, but he offered her a seat near his own little coffee table. He took the only other.

"Thor told me what happened in here, he also tells me he found something of interest." Frigga said.

"Looks like he will be getting stabbed." Loki smiled sadly, shaking his head.

"He is understandably worried, you've never had such a temper." Frigga said.

"Well, now I do." Loki said.

"Do you?" She asked, rhetorically. "Thor showed us one of the items you destroyed, a piece of the sceptre bent almost beyond recognition."

"Well, that's impossible, I haven't been anywhere near the vault." Loki said, putting his hands up.

"The circumstances are suspicious. The sceptre is currently missing." Frigga said.

"It is? What of the tesseract?" Loki asked quickly, jerking up.

"Still in the vaults, but glowing." Frigga said. She blinked and he was gone, having raced out of his room. She attempted to follow, alerting Thor who was waiting in his room nearby.

OoOoOoOoOo

"Father, what of the tesseract?" Loki asked loudly as soon as he entered the vault.

"Loki, what are you doing here?" Odin asked, gesturing for Loki to stay away from the glowing cube.

"It was used recently." Loki said, halting in his steps. He heard the pitterpatter of Thor and Frigga's feet enter behind him.

"Used by whom?" Odin asked, narrowing his eyes at Loki.

"Not Thanos?" Thor asked.

"The one and only." Loki said, flashing a smile so fake even Thor could understand it wasn't genuine.

"Where is the sceptre?" Thor asked.

"Probably teleported to him via the Space stone in the tesseract." Loki winced. "Why I had a piece of it is beyond my knowledge."

"If that's true then there is nothing more we can do here." Odin said, guiding the family back upstairs, with one more glance back at the tesseract from Loki.

"You believe me, do you not?" Loki asked his mother.

"Of course." Frigga instantly said, taking his hand.

"I must gather the council for an emergency meeting." Odin said, before leaving.

"What do we do now?" Loki asked.

"Nothing." Thor said, his eyes yellow.

"Heimdall?" Frigga asked.

"He passes along a request that Loki and I go back to Midgard. It's time." Thor said.

"This will be fun." Loki muttered.

Frigga patted his shoulder.


	11. Appeal

"You will be fine, if you are not forgiven by Midgard, then we do not hold judgement against you." Frigga said, before Loki and Thor left to go to Midgard. Promptly after Thor left him the previous day, Loki sought out his mother, asking advice for the conference. She chose an outfit for him, that he would put on for Midgard.

"I will be sure to help any way I can to appeal for Loki's innocence." Thor said.

Loki had to agree his presence would be most necessary.

"Good luck my sons." Frigga said, before they left to gather their horses and head to the Bifrost.

"Heimdall. I would like to formally apologize for... freezing you with the Casket." Loki said, taking a moment to speak to the guard. He hadn't had the chance to apologise since arriving days ago.

"Apology accepted my prince. Welcome home." Heimdall said, a small smile escaping the corner of his mouth.

Loki smiled back genuinely for the first time in a while.

The Bifrost took them from Asgard to Midgard.

OoOoOoOoOo

"Incoming Gods of Thunder and Psychopathy." Tony announced the second they landed in Stark tower.

"Psychopathy?" Thor asked, glancing back at Loki who shrugged.

Loki instead spotted all five other Avengers, including Clint.

"Agent Barton, I would like to apologize for... well everything." Loki said, looking down and awkwardly.

Clint spluttered, not expecting it. "Oh- well- th- thanks, Loki."

"And just like that, you two are fine?" Natasha asked, sceptical.

"Ah, we are still working things out." Thor said, exchanging a glance and smile with Loki, who silently agreed.

"Okay, well conference is waiting downstairs, better not be late with this guy here." Tony said, referring to Loki.

"I will make sure they kill me and not you." Loki said.

"Hey I like this guy already. Even if he did throw me out a window, my OWN window." Tony joked, obviously over it.

"I apologize for that." Loki said, as sincerely as he could, nothing could compensate for that.

The Avengers all exchanged glances at Loki's obvious discomfort of being around his former enemies, but Thor gave them a look saying that he would explain later once Loki was out of the room.

"Let's go baffle some brains." Clint said, earning a pinch on the arm from Natasha. He yelped.

OoOoOoOoOo

"As you all know, I vouched for Loki's innocence in involvement of the New York invasion, now we have the actual God himself giving a statement here today." Tony said, opening the conference. He was used to these things after all.

Thor decided he should speak next. "Having known my brother all our lives, as you would your own siblings, we have had many adventures, but we also fought. Despite our... ups and downs... we know each others quirks well, we know each other well enough to know if something isn't as it seems, which was the case merely a few days ago."

Thor sat down, gesturing for Loki to give his statement, he decided to remained seated as to not become such an easy target for assassination, because he was smart, unlike Thor. Visibly he was calm and solumn, but inside he was nervous and full of guilt, so he couldn't handle standing up anyway.

"I grew up on Asgard along side Thor, as you will know by now, we couldn't be any more different, and as what you would call a trouble child, I fell into a bad situation after faking my death over a year ago.

I obtained a weapon which controlled mine and others minds-"

Loki glanced at Clint.

"- something I was unaware about all the time I... invaded... I was to take over Earth, but..."

Loki persisted. "I had no ill intentions for Earth. Had I taken over this planet, I would have allowed it safety from bigger threats in the universe that hear Earth speaking louder and louder. Though, it seems I was wrong about this planet and it's inhabitants. You are all so different and unique that one single ruler could not be possible for the entire population as it is on Asgard. In fact, with such mighty heroes like the Avengers, anyone would be a fool to underestimate humanity."

Loki paused.

"Should I receive punishment for my crimes, I will gladly accept what is suggested. I regret my actions fully and the death and chaos I have caused."

"Loki will make every attempt to redeem himself, a feat he is fully capable of, if given the chance." Thor added quickly.

Loki looked at him, eyes soft at Thor's attempts to reconcile with him.

After a round of quick fire questions that Loki somehow managed to treat with ease, Tony Stark dismissed the press, pushing Loki out of the room with the rest of the Avengers in tow.

OoOoOoOoOo

"Well I think that went better than planned, I thought someone would throw a shoe at Lokes." Clint said, throwing himself onto a sofa in Tony's lounge.

"Why would someone do something like that?" Thor asked, confused as he put Mjolnir on the coffee table.

"It's what people do when they don't like someone I guess. It's complicated." Clint explained, moving himself to let Natasha and Steve sit down. Loki sat at Tony's bar, noting to himself that the man seemed to have more than one.

"Midgardians are a complicated race, I spent enough time near Agent Barton to realize that." Loki mumbled, only loud enough for Steve and Thor's enhanced hearing to pick up. They laughed hard.

"What?" Tony asked, confused, since he only heard a mumble of sound from Loki.

"It's nothing friend Tony." Thor said, grinning at his brother who shrugged with a glimpse of a smile etched on his face.

"We should get the verdict tomorrow, how about you stay here tonight?" Natasha offered.

"Are you offering MY tower?" Tony asked, eyebrows raised.

"Yes." She replied.

"... You should both probably stay here tonight. If Loki doesn't kill anyone else." Tony said, teasing.

He backed down when Thor glared at him. Even the other Avengers backed away.

Loki, however, threw his shoe at Thor, nailing him in the forehead because he paid no attention. "Don't scare the little humans Thor."

They all looked at Thor and Loki, noticing that Thor had a frown on his face.

OOoOoOoOoOo

After Tony showed the Asgardians their guest rooms, Loki decided he would stay in his to wait for a verdict from the realms American government.

That gave Thor the opportunity to explain everything that was discovered about Loki's role in the invasion, in exchange for some sympathetic looks when he spoke about Thanos' treatment of Loki in his imprisonment.

"Why didn't he mention that during the press? Instant win." Clint said.

"Loki has given out more information than he was comfortable with, he has always been quite a private person even to our family." Thor said.

"All we can hope is that it was enough." Natasha said.

"Rhodey will let us know." Tony said. "As soon as he knows."

"Not tonight though. It's late and we should be retiring for the night." Steve said, standing up.

"There's nothing else we can do now." Bruce said.

"Then I bid you good night." Thor said, picking up his hammer and heading to his room- or Loki's.

 **Reviews are very much welcome.**


	12. Converse

The next day, Loki woke up early, since he was an early riser unlike his brother and decided to explore as much of the tower as he felt Tony would let him, which was probably no further than his room which he knew was only reluctantly given.

So he was surprised to find that his door was unlocked.

Taking a tentative step out of his room, he decided on one direction, headed to what he recognised as a lift.

He decided to go up to the very top, since he knew that area best, and there was nothing really important up there that Tony wouldn't want Loki to see.

The lift opened, he took a step out before freezing at the sight of Tony at his little bar; why did he have so many here?

'Almost as bad as Thor.'

"Hey Lokes, you gonna join me?" Tony asked, pouring himself a drink.

"Isn't it a tad early?" Loki asked, approaching him.

"Yeah, well, not for me." Tony said. "I make the rules here."

"Hehe, very well, I might as well have that drink I was promised now." Loki said, sitting on a stool.

"So what'll it be?" Tony asked, waving his hand around him to the bottles.

"The strongest you've got." Loki said, holding a poker face.

"Really? You look like a lightweight." Tony smirked.

"How strong is that which you are holding?" Loki asked, looking at his glass.

Tony took a drink at that moment. "Touche."

Then he picked out something in particular, poured half a glass for Loki, and watched as he practically inhaled it in horror.

"What?"

"Asgardian alcohol tolerance. Just like drinking water." Loki smirked.

"You are cunning." Tony said, taking back the empty glass and refilling it.

This time Loki took his time.

"What will your government say?" Loki asked.

"Probably asking to behead you." Tony huffed.

"Do the Avengers?" Loki asked.

"Hell no, we know the whole story." Tony said.

"Thor told you." Loki surmised.

"You're welcome to just stay in the tower the next few hours to seek shelter from the media rain." Steve said as he walked in.

"Good morning." Loki greeted.

"Morning. Drinking at this time?" Steve asked, half amused.

"He's got better tolerance than you." Tony said, itching for a battle of wits as he not so discreetly placed the strong bottle in front of them.

"I'd expect that from an Asgardian." Steve said, not rising to the bait.

"Damn." Tony cursed as he swiped it back before Loki could take the whole bottle.

"Thor still asleep?" Steve asked.

"Mornings don't agree with him, he has always said." Loki smirked.

"Quite right too." Tony said.

"You usually get up way too late in the morning." Steve scolded him.

"So does Brucie." Tony argued.

"Only after a near Hulkout and an actual Hulkout." Steve pointed out.

"Eh." Tony shrugged.

"Midgardian arguments are so petty." Loki said, shaking his head.

"What do Asgardians argue about? The horoscope?" Tony asked.

Loki shook his head while Steve just raised an eyebrow.

OoOoOoOoOo

"Agent Barton can cook?" Loki asked, surprised.

"I know, I'm shocked too." Tony said, watching in amazement as Clint broke a few eggs over the saucepan.

"Laugh it up, I'll give you the burnt ones." Clint said, not turning around. Tony instantly went silent, but Loki furrowed his eyebrows.

"Why would you serve burnt food?" He asked.

"Because.. because..." Clint struggled. He instantly went silent and turned back to the eggs.

"Morning." Bruce yawned as he entered the dining room, he was dressed as usual but a bit untidy.

"Where's Thor?" Steve asked.

"Probably working out." Loki answered. "I know his routine."

"No, I'm right here." Thor said, exiting the lift at that very moment.

"You're late." Loki said.

"You're early." Thor fired back. Loki shook his head and turned back to the table.

"You're in my seat." Clint said, bringing a plate of eggs and toast over and placing it in the centre.

"Do I care?" Loki asked.

"That's yours, there." Tony said to Loki, pointing to a seat between Natasha and Thor.

"That's the worst seat." Loki argued.

"There's no difference!" Tony exclaimed.

"If he sits there, his back is facing the window, he sits appropriate to the number of weak spots in a room." Thor said, stealing some pop tarts out of the cupboard.

Everyone stared at him.

"We were raised together." Thor justified, shrugging. Loki smirked, sinking back a bit further in the seat.

"So you want me to have the weak spot?" Clint asked. "Charming."

"You're hardly a target for assassination by the mortals on this planet." Loki said.

The Avengers glanced at each other, simply accepting the excuse, albeit a bit awkwardly.

"A man after my own logic." Natasha said, nicking a piece of toast.

"It's a lot more than you expect from Thor." Loki said.

"Is this love?" Clint asked, smirking.

Loki flinched at those words, and Natasha frowned ever so slightly that everyone missed it but Loki. They glanced at each other, and an understanding of no ill feeling rised between them.

"Sir, you have a visitor." Announced a male voice that came out of nowhere.

Loki suddenly jumped out his seat, so quickly he knocked the chair back with a thud on the floor, drawing two daggers that had Natasha go for her gun and Clint for his bow and arrows.

Tony just laughed out loud, falling out his own seat, while Bruce was too tired to even flinch at the sudden movements and Thor and Steve just smiled and shook their heads.

"What in Odin's name was that?" Loki asked, assessing the room.

"That. Was JARVIS, my A.I. Artificial Intelligence that I embedded into the tower." Tony explained once he stopped laughing too hard.

"You didn't think to warn me?" Loki asked, glaring.

"Thought you remembered." Tony said.

"Remembered?" Loki asked, relaxing his stance.

"JARVIS deployed my suit when you threw me out the window." Tony said.

"I did apologize." Loki muttered.

"J, who is it?" Tony asked.

"Director Fury, sir." JARVIS replied.

"Great." Loki sighed, sitting down and playing with his daggers.

"Send him up." Tony said, then he turned to Loki. "Put those away or Fury'll shoot you on the spot."

Loki waved a hand over them and they disappeared.

Fury came through the lift, with Rhodey beside him. Tony shot a quick glare at Rhodey for not giving him a verdict before anyone else, but he pointedly ignored Tony.

"How'd it sit with the public?" Natasha asked.

"They're understandably hesitant." Fury said. "But the council have come to a decision."

"Yes?" Thor said, standing up and walking around the table to close the gap between him and Loki.

"Loki has a choice, whether to leave Earth and never return, or..." Fury said, before hesitating.

"Or?" Steve asked.

"He can remain under supervision of Stark whenever he's on Earth, with the intent of redemption." Fury said.

"You don't mean..." Natasha asked, her face changing into an expression of amazement.

"What?" Thor asked.

"That's right. Loki's sentence is banishment or become an Avenger, or at least an Avenger in the making until the public decide whether to trust him or not." Fury said.

A glass breaking was the next sound to come out of anyone. The Avenger's turned to Clint, who was breathing rather heavily.

 **Please review so I know people are enjoying or even reading still.**


	13. Lights

"The mortals would place their lives in a gamble of whether to trust me or not?" Loki asked.

"It would seem so." Fury replied. "Or rather, trusting Stark to shoot you dead the moment you take a wrong step."

"Yeah, no, not going to happen." Tony said. "He'll do great."

"Well then. In that case, I'm leaving you to it." Fury said, entering the elevator and wishing Loki half-heartedly good luck before the doors closed.

Silence was broken by Tony, as per usual. "Were you even planning on calling ahead?"

Rhodey smirked. "Figured I'd want to see your reaction."

"Well, thanks a bunch." Tony replied sarcastically.

"So... thoughts?" Steve asked, mainly Thor.

"That's up for Loki to decide." Thor said, turning to his brother.

"I will have to think about it." Loki confessed. "Still, what is wrong with you?"

"We're forgiving apparently." Clint said.

"Well think quick. The public want an answer before the weeks end." Rhodey warned.

"They'll get one. For now, breakfast." Tony said. The Avengers all settled down, though the primary discussion was still about Loki's sentence.

"Should he do it?" Natasha asked.

"I'm all for it." Steve said.

"As am I." Thor said.

"Clint?" Tony said.

"I guess I can tolerate him." Clint shrugged.

"I'm right here." Loki said.

"Sorry, what is it you want?" Thor asked.

"I..." Loki stopped. What did he want? Bruce noticed the conflict in him, and came to his rescue.

"He has a week to decide. We'll ask then." He said. Loki smiled at him, albeit a small smile.

"Tell me when you figure it out. Brucie, Rhodey, wanna come to the lab?" Tony asked, standing up.

"Sure." They replied, following suit.

"Where will everyone be?" Thor asked.

"Nat and I are dropping in to SHIELD HQ, since we actually work there. But we'll only be in and out." Clint said.

"I'll be hitting the gym." Steve said.

"I guess it's just us then." Loki said to Thor.

"Good, I do wish to speak with you anyway." Thor said.

"Oh joy, the world is ending." Loki smirked. Thor glared at him. The other Avengers finished up and left the Asgardians to it, per some heavy hints to Clint and Steve that they needed to have a talk with each other.

So that left Thor and Loki on their own again.

"I really do not deserve such trust from this planet, no matter how little of my actions were true." Loki sighed.

"Do not think like that, brother. Now tell me, how much do you wish to visit Midgard every so often?" Thor asked.

"It doesn't matter." Loki said, a fake laugh coming from him.

"Of course it does!" Thor said.

"Really? And what benefit does Asgard have intruding on Midgard? You do nothing when you visit." Loki said.

"We stop rebellious Asgardians for one." Thor teased.

"Rebellious? That's what you're going with?" Loki asked.

"Yes." Thor said, narrowing his eyes at Loki, challenging him to argue. Loki simply rolled his eyes.

"I don't see the point in becoming an Avenger if I am most unlikely to come by all that often." Loki confessed.

"Then come by more often." Thor argued.

"Why do you insist on tying me to your little team?" Loki asked, raising his voice.

"What would you rather do? Stay in the palace walls and stare into space when you think no one is watching?" Thor asked. "Don't deny it, I've been watching."

"Congratulations, you've finally become a bit more observant. You're well on your way to not needing me to hold your hand in battle." Loki yelled. The lights flickered at a result of his magic flaring, but then they shot out sparks of electricity.

"You would forget what happened on Jotunheim?" Thor asked, his own anger rising.

"You would forget that if I hadn't saved your lives- that's you and the warriors- so many times all those years ago, you'd already be dead?" Loki yelled. "You forget because you wish to always be the star, while I get pushed to your shadow."

"We all admitted being wrong!" Thor exclaimed.

"At what cost? My sanity? My temper? Perhaps just someone you'd sooner throw to wolves than die honourable has finally shown you why you should keep them around. I'll save your life how many more times in the future? I wouldn't know, but certainly neither would you." Loki ranted.

The lights burst completely.

"You go too far, brother. Do not question my loyalty." Thor said, voice low and dangerous.

"Do I? The one other person who told me that used me my whole life, I meant nothing to him, not as I am now, not when I was an abandoned child." Loki said, not faltering under Thor's intimidating figure. "I mean nothing to you. You are one and the same."

"If father had not saved you, you would have died." Thor said.

"Oh what a delightful alternative. I'll think about it now, it's never too late." Loki hissed, before storming out, sending a glass smashing on the ground off the table.

Thor looked half stunned, half angry. Not wishing to further agitate the both of them, he resolved to clearing up the shattered glass.

OOoOoOoOoOo

"Did you hear that?" Bruce asked, nervously looking to the door.

"Asgardian argument. Fatal to the average human. Until they start tearing apart this place, we should steer clear. That's means you too, big guy." Tony said, fiddling with a piece of his armour with a screwdriver.

"You're just gonna leave them?" Bruce asked.

"Yeah, why not?" Tony asked.

"This is Thor and Loki we're talking about. They had a big family feud more or less a week ago, Loki attempted suicide a year back because of another one with his dad." Bruce insisted.

"You think I should intervene?" Tony asked, bewildered.

"Not now they've stopped." Bruce said. Silence rang through the tower.

"Guess I'll go ask Thor what happened at least." Tony said.

"Sir, I would also suggest you fix the dining room lights." JARVIS interjected.

Tont groaned, mumbling about charging Asgardians for destroying their planet, bit at a time, until he entered the lift and left Bruce alone to calm himself down a little.

Tony first paid a visit to the dining room to survey the damage, not surprised to find Natasha and Steve already there, talking to Thor.

"What happened?" Tony asked, tutting as he stepped around stray glass that Thor obviously missed when cleaning up.

"My brother has a temper to rival mine." Thor explained.

"He always seems so calm." Natasha stated.

"Yeah, captivity does things to you." Tony said. "J, where is Mischief anyway?"

"His room, sir." JARVIS said.

"Guess I'll go talk to him." Tony said.

"He could be dangerous right now Friend Tony." Thor warned, standing up.

"I'm prepared to be thrown out a window, I'll be fine." Tony said, entering the lift.

"He is crazy." Natasha sighed, she was still holding her rucksack, having yet to leave the tower.

"Better him than us, at least Thor warned him." Steve said.

"What do you mean about his temper, anyway?" Natasha asked. Thor sighed, proceeding to tell them about Loki's previous tantrum.

They listened intently, agreeing with Thor about mind influence still lingering.

He didn't mention the Sceptre went missing.


	14. Reason

"Lokes? Mischief, you in here?" Tony called, knocking on the door. He waited a few seconds for a reply, before having JARVIS let him in after no answer. Loki was sat cross legged on his bed, half the room destroyed, the other half intact. Tony realized he must have remembered that he wasn't destroying his own belongings, ceasing immediately. That kind of self control Tony had to admire a hell of a lot.

He sat on the edge of the bed, approaching like a parent confronting a child. It seemed accurate, Loki looked much younger than he did, even though he was hundreds of years old.

"You done blowing up my lights?" He asked gently.

Loki just looked away, fiddling with his fingers.

"Look, if you just want to let it all out, I got a few gyms in the place with equipment suited for Super Soldier Steve. Feel free." Tony said. When he saw Loki's face soften slightly, he continued. "Now what's up?"

"Just another argument." Loki said.

"Family feud. Had a few of those in my teens. My dad was one of the worst parents you could imagine. Pretty much acted like I never existed, never allowed me in his lab, never told me he loved me, yadida." Tony explained, acting like he couldn't care less. Loki saw differently though.

"I simply wish to make my own decisions." Loki said.

"Who doesn't? I mean, I do whatever I want, with regards to the rules... some of them anyway, but I still do what I want." Tony said. "This is about the big decision?"

"Yes." Loki replied.

"What do you want to do?" Tony asked.

"I do not know." Loki confessed. "Midgard intrigues me. That is, it interests me. But if the only way I can explore your planet is to be an Avenger then I will gladly face banishment."

"Brutal honesty, can't say it didn't sting a little but, hey." Tony smirked. "Out of curiosity, what's so bad about being an Avenger? Not a team player?"

"It's not that, just as I grew up I went along with Thor and his friends on their adventures. They never excluded me, though that was probably because I was Thor's brother and a Prince of Asgard. Nevertheless, anything I said went over their heads, I was never listened to, only told what to do. Once, Thor told me to know my place when I suggested leaving a territory before we could start any fights." Loki said. "Why should you be any different?"

"Wow, that sucks. But just bear in mind that even if Thor is here, those friends of his aren't. We want you in with us, we need your skills and your strategies to make Steve's look like child play." Tony smirked. Loki found himself smiling a little at that. "We all take each others ideas on board, that's probably how we managed to take you down in the first place. Just. Loki, think about it is all I am saying. Observe interactions between everyone, figure it out."

Tony patted Loki's knee and stood up, just as he was about to leave, Loki called his name.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you, Stark." Loki said.

"Call me Tony." He replied, smiling, before leaving.

OOoOoOoOoOo

"I think you're ridiculous." Natasha said.

"What's up?" Tony asked as he walked in on a conversation between Thor, Steve and Natasha.

"Thunder boy here is about to give up on repairing his relationship with Loki." Natasha explained.

"That is not how I put it." Thor said, pointing an accusing finger at her.

"'My brother acts beyond reason, there is no getting through to him' sounds pretty much like you're giving up." Natasha said, rolling her eyes.

"Beyond reason is different to reason, he won't tell you because you're the one causing the problems." Tony said.

Thor jumped up quickly, to tower over Tony. "What are you speaking of, Stark."

"I just spoke to Loki, you realize he has reservations about joining the Avengers because he has had no good team working experiences?" Tony said.

"He has had plenty of experience." Thor protested.

"BAD experience. Apparently growing up and going off on your adventures, he only ever came along much to other people's reluctance AND he pretty much got ignored most of the time." Tony said.

"Battle was never the place for Loki." Thor justified.

"Is it not? He seemed pretty good at it when we met in Stuttgart." Steve said, crossing his arms.

"He chooses to use magic as opposed to traditional combat." Thor said. "It didn't fit in with our own battle styles."

"Oh, then I suppose we should just kick you out the Avengers and take on board Loki? We've been looking forward to getting someone with a gift for cunningness as opposed to Pikachu on steroids." Tony said.

From the kitchen, a loud snort sound emitted that sounded suspiciously like someone choked on a drink, and sure enough, out came Clint laughing so hard he couldn't breath and cleaning himself up of orange juice. "Pikachu on steroids. Christ, that's hilarious, I'm using it."

"Get your own." Tony retorted, smirking.

"Point still stands, Loki would be great for us, we just need to convince him that we would actually treat him equal to everyone else." Natasha said before Thor could either hit Tony with the hammer or get confused about the reference.

"Thor. Just apologise to Loki. The sooner you both learn to get along, the easier it will be to compromise and avoid these deadly arguments that might send a few weapons flying around here." Steve said.

Thor looked around at all the faces, all agreeing with Steve, even Clint turned serious about the issue. Thor gave in, sighing heavily.

"I will attempt to apologise once I know my brother has calmed down." Thor said.

"Yeah, your own temper needs improvement." Tony said.

"I suppose I am too much like my father. Loki was always so much like mother, that's why they always got along so well." Thor said.

"Is that how it is now? What's your family life like?" Natasha asked.

"Unsteady still. It needs much improvement but I am confident that things will change for the better eventually." Thor said, smiling sadly. "If only it were great from the beginning."

"Well, I gave Loki a lot to think about, talk to him later, would you? I'll be down in the lab." Tony said.

"Good talk, guys. I'll be in the gym if anyone needs me." Clint said, gulping down the last of his juice, and leaving.

"I thought he was going to SHIELD?" Steve said.

"If we leave, you'll kill each other. SHIELD can wait." Natasha said, dropping her bag.


	15. Aim

Loki decided to leave his room at last, but instead of seeking anyone out, he hesitantly asked Building JARVIS for directions to the nearest gym. Figuring it out, he got there in less than ten minutes, entering and raising his eyebrows at the sight of Clint rapid-firing his arrows at multiple targets that showed up at random intervals.

All in the bullseye.

"How on Earth did you manage to catch my arrow anyway?" Clint asked as he took notice of Loki.

"Faster than human reflexes." Loki explained, closing the gap between them. "I didn't pick up on it being explosive though, a nice touch deserving of praise."

"Thanks." Clint replied, still not used to this tamer Loki. A moments hesitation, then he decided to go for it. "Ever shot any?"

"Daggers follow the same principle." Was Loki's answer.

"Wanna bet?" Clint said, presenting his bow to Loki.

"Do you not mind me of all people touching your weapons?" Loki asked.

"I mean, I'm probably not the brightest bulb in the box." Clint said.

"I quite agree with you." Loki smiled.

"Don't get sassy with me, I won't teach you otherwise." Clint retorted.

"Sorry." Loki said frowning, snatching up the bow and accepting an arrow from Clint's other hand.

Doing what he saw Clint always did, he positioned himself before a target.

"Your Godly heritage probably gives you a better aim than us mere humans, so once you get the form right, you should be able to hit the target." Clint explained. "Lower your dominant arm a bit, aim, and shoot."

Missed, but just by an inch.

"You were standing wrong." Clint said.

"You couldn't tell me that before I made the shot?" Loki asked.

"Nope." Clint grinned.

"Why did I bother with you?" Loki asked, rhetorically.

"Beats me. Just wanted to pull your leg. Stand sideways to your target." Clint said, turning Loki a bit to the right. "Aim and fire."

The arrow hit the target, not the bullseye but close enough for a beginner.

"A little more practice and I will better you at archery." Loki teased.

"You will not." Clint argued, snatching his bow back before retrieving his arrows.

Loki shook his head, chuckling to himself.

"I heard what happened. The argument." Clint said, putting the arrows back into the quiver.

"What of it? It's not the first time and it certainly won't be the last." Loki said.

"Yeah but you two could at least be a bit more civil about it instead of threatening to blow the roof off this place. Look, I know you and Thor aren't in such a good place with each other right now, nor might you ever get to be as close as you probably were as kids, but I can tell it means a lot to you that you do mend your relationship." Clint explained.

"Ha, if that's what you would like to believe." Loki retorted.

"I do believe it. Even you, though you try to hide it. You hide a lot that I don't know yet. You hide a lot that I may never figure out, you're such a complex character." Clint said. "Complex is good, but not when you let it get in the way of relationships, which you're doing now."

"How exactly do you mean?" Loki asked.

"Like, you try to distance yourself from others, yet at the same time you want to be surrounded by those you can call friends. You confuse everyone with your sarcastic and sometimes insulting comments." Clint said.

Well, he's more observant than Loki thought, but he had to begrudgingly agree that it did sound like him, even if he couldn't judge his own character well any more.

"It's obvious to me that it is Thor who needs to compromise. After all, he always dictates every move I make, regardless of whether I want to make it or not." Loki said with a bitter edge.

"I agree, but there is still some compromising you need to do, whether or not you will join the Avengers." Clint said. "I'm going up to join the others for lunch in the common room. Feel free to join."

Loki nodded.

"Oh and by the way." Clint said, before the lift doors closed. "I'd be honoured to serve by you in the Avengers, if you can prove yourself."

OOoOoOoOoOo

Lunch was pretty uneventful, Thor reluctantly accepted that he probably won't see Loki for the rest of the day, instead deciding to spend some time in his own room reporting back to Heimdall, not that he didn't already know what had been happening and told the King and Queen.

Still, someone to talk to.

"You should both stay on Midgard and work with Loki, using the Bifrost too often will draw a lot of attention." Heimdall explained.

"If we can stop arguing long enough to have such a conversation." Thor replied.

"This is someone who has been isolated for a year, having the wrong thoughts build up in his mind and bitterness that doesn't immediately subside. You will need time and patience." Heimdall said.

"One of which I have none of." Thor smiled sadly.

"You will learn from Loki the art of patience, just as he will learn the art of empathy. He is as of the present, rather apathetic." Heimdall said.

"Explains why he destroyed his room back on Asgard, everything will have to be replaced. Whatever was once valuable to him has become materialistic." Thor said.

"Precicely. Be patient, my prince, and things may turn out for the better." Heimdall said, ending the connection.

Thor's eyes turned from yellow back to blue and he surveyed his room in the compound. According to Tony, Loki had accidentally destroyed half of his after their argument and briefly wondered if the Mind stone was still affecting him even from where ever it may be, or if the cause of the temper was...

Him.

Like Heimdall said, he should learn patience, in return for a better relationship with Loki.

He threw Mjolnir up into the air a few times, catching it with ease, then decided to leave his room.


	16. Kaboom

It didn't take long for the Avengers to be needed. Apparently there was a bomb threat in a warehouse not far from the tower, Natasha was the one to gather the team, including Loki.

"Alright, we're gonna need Stark to head over there immediately. Get someone at the scene to evacuate as many people as possible. Thor, can you fly over there?" Steve asked in his Captain America persona.

"Yes. I shall meet you there." Thor said, before taking the lift to the roof to fly off.

"Don't miss out on all the fun." Tony smirked, deploying his suit from the building.

"Alright, we gotta go on foot, Bruce, this isn't a place to release the Hulk, stay here." Steve said, turning to Bruce.

"I doubt guns and arrows are going to prove useful to disarm a bomb." Loki said, placing his hands on his hips.

"We have got training, you know." Clint retorted.

"Which you're not going to use." Steve said.

"We need to assist in evacuations, we don't know how devastating that thing is gonna be until Cap and Stark examine it closer." Natasha said, preparing her guns.

"Do I have a role here?" Loki asked.

"Yes, we need you there in case we can't dispose of the bomb. I thought perhaps with your expertise in magic, you might be able to figure something out." Steve explained.

"I will think about it." Loki nodded.

"Let's go." Natasha said.

OoOoOoOoOo

On route to the scene in a helocopter, Tony called over the radio to report the situation.

"We got most people evacuated from this building, but this thing looks big enough to blow the next few buildings around it. We need urgent backup now." Tony said.

"Can you disarm it?" Steve asked.

"Not while so many people are around, we can't risk it." Natasha interjected from the pilot seat, flying along with Clint.

"If we don't do anything, the risk is just as big." Tony argued back.

"Assess the threat, we'll be there in one minute." Steve said.

"We gotta find a better mode of transport." Clint said, shaking his legs in anticipation.

"Good idea. Hey Reindeer Games, can you teleport?" Tony asked.

"Teleportation not only takes a lot of magic to do successfully, I have yet to master it properly." Loki replied, rolling his eyes at the nickname.

"Get on it soon. We may need it sooner or later." Steve said. Loki nodded hesitantly.

"Alright, we're here." Natasha said, opening the helicopter doors while it was hovering above the ground. Steve jumped out, as did Loki. Natasha and Clint would land away from the site, then evacuate from other buildings.

"It's on the ground floor." Steve told Loki, breaking into a jog.

"Logical, take down the foundations, you take down the entire building. Maximised damage." Loki said.

"Where'd we find this guy?" Tony smirked as he looked at them enter, he had taken his helmet off at some point, as well as his gauntlets. He turned back to the bomb, face suddenly serious again.

Steve knelt down next to him, with Loki hovering just behind them.

"Can you do it?" Steve asked.

"Gonna be challenging." Tony admitted. "Not one I'm familiar with."

"You used to design weapons, did you not?" Loki asked.

"Yeah, so this is saying something. Just give me time to figure it out." Tony replied, placing his helmet back on his head, leaving the gauntlets to the side.

"Loki, you and I need to scan the area, if we find anyone left, we get them out of here." Steve said.

"Of course." Loki replied.

"I wanna hear him say 'yes Captain'." Tony said.

Neither replied, too busy running out the building to the neighbouring ones where they saw Clint and Natasha.

"Give me a sitrep." Natasha said as soon as she saw them.

Loki looked confused at the Midgardian term, but Steve wasted no time. "Unfamiliar design, Stark's figuring it out though, best case scenario he figures it out quickly."

"Worst case: kaboom." Loki said, unhelpful.

"Loki..." Thor sighed as he approached.

"Everyone evacuated?" Steve asked Thor.

"From the two behind, yes." Thor replied.

"Let's do the rest. Also Loki, we gotta talk about the appropriate things to say in a situation." Clint smirked.

"Just telling it how it is." Loki shrugged, splitting off from the group with Natasha. Thor went with Clint, leaving Steve to do the rest.

OoOoOoOoOo

"Get out, it's not safe here." Natasha said to some people watching the outside world from the windows.

"Just in case you didn't notice the mass crowd below evacuating." Loki said, subtle enough not to let them know they were being insulted. Natasha noticed and gave him a look that said I-want-to-be-mad-but-you're-damn-right.

"You see? I told yous the goody-two-shoes would turn up!" Said an elderly man with sunglass and slicked back silver hair.

Soon the building was evacuated, but quite a few children got lost and split from their parents. Natasha insisted they focussed on getting them out the way, communicating the risen situation to their teammates.

"Hope you don't scare even Asgardian children." Natasha said as she picked up one of the smaller ones.

"Debatable." Loki shrugged as he took the hands of a couple, urging the rest to follow.

"Uh, Lokes. I think I might need you back here." Tony said over the comms.

"Now? I'm busy, can it wait?" Loki asked, exasperated as he resorted to picking up a child.

"It's a bomb. You know, a thing that goes kaboom. It can't wait." Tony replied.

"Correction, both of you." Clint said. Loki understood what he meant but not Tony. The latter had no time to think on it, however.

"Can you handle things here?" Loki asked Natasha, handing off the child to her.

"Sure, I'll just get Thor over here if it gets too difficult." Natasha said.

Loki nodded and turned on his heel to run back towards the warehouse. A sense of danger pricked in his spine, and he halted just outside. He scanned the surroundings, his eyes landing on a figure with a mask. As soon as the figure realized he had been seen, he left immediately. Loki debated about persuit, but decided this was the priority. He would bring it up later when the threat was over and done with.

"You can not stop it?" Loki asked as he crouched down to examine the machine.

"It's got backup after backup after backup, there's no stopping it, we gotta let it go. Any ideas how to cushion it?" Tony asked.

"Hmm... I know what I said about teleporting, but in this case I may be able to." Loki said.

"No, anywhere you send it, government won't be happy and will send you straight back to Asgard." Steve said over the comms.

"Then I may be able to create a barrier. It will contain the explosion but it will not die inside. It has to go somewhere." Loki explained.

"Do it, it's our best plan right now." Thor said.

"Stand back." Loki said to Tony, who quickly obeyed.

Loki held out his hand over the bomb, creating a green sheet of light that engulfed it. "I may be able to detonate it myself now."

"If you think you're ready to." Steve said.

"Well, I'm never entirely sure what could happen with my magic, but alright." Loki muttered, flexing his fingers in a strange ritual to set it off.

The moment it did, Loki flinched at the power that suddenly hit his shield, what hit his shield also hit him and every ounce of him was straining to fight back the bubble of fire he was containing.

"How long can you hold it?" Natasha asked.

"Not long, this is bigger than it looked as a piece of metal." Loki groaned.

"Can you move it?" Tony asked, suddenly perking up at an idea that flashed through his head.

"With a bit of effort, perhaps." Loki replied.

"Push it through the ceiling, high as you can above the buildings. If it stays down here we could cripple the foundations of a multitude of buildings and cause a lot of problems." Tony said.

"Can you do it?" Steve asked.

"Only one way to find out." Clint said. "Good luck."

Loki positioned his right hand to face palm up, pushing upwards towards the ceiling. The metal of the roof screeched a horrible metallic sound, that made Loki and Tony flinch, before the roof finally gave way and allowed to Loki to send it up further.

Unfortunately at that moment, Loki felt his magic give out after a year of disuse, and the explosion shattered every window of the evacuated buildings, including raining metal sheets that was the roof upon their heads in the warehouse.

The explosion sent them slamming into the ground, and in a bid to save Loki from the sharp metal, Tony threw himself on him, safe in his own suit.


End file.
